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Chosen Days in Scotland 




Laggan Avenue, Caledonian Canal. 



Chosen 
Days in Scotland 



BY 



JOSEPHINE HELENA SHORT 

AUTHOR OF ' OBERAMMERGAU 



ILLUSTRATED WITH PHOTOGRAPHS 



NEW YORK 

THOMAS Y. CROWELL COMPANY 

PUBLISHERS 



>* 

*& 



t 



Copyright, 1911, 
Bt THOMAS Y. CROWELL COMPANY. 



Published September, 1911. 



' 



'CLA297815 



1 1 i 



TO 

MY MOTHER 



PREFACE 

TRAVEL books can be written in two 
distinct fashions, to serve two distinct 
purposes — that is, to suit the needs of 
the tourist and supply just the information 
to be desired while en tour, or so as to inform 
people who travel only in their easy-chairs in 
company with a book about places visited by 
the writer of the work. It has been the aim 
of the author and the publishers to unite the 
two purposes in this volume on Scotland, and 
make a book which it will be to the traveller's 
advantage to have with him when outward 
bound, and also one that will be just as wel- 
come to those whose travels do not, in any 
case, take them beyond their native shores. 
This description of "chosen days" in chosen 
spots of the land of heath and heather, and of 
Bruce and Scott and Burns, would, indeed, 
form a comprehensive guide-book for a tour of 

vii 



PREFACE 

Scotland, the Orkney Islands, and the Isle of 
Skye. At the same time the author has striven 
so to carry the atmosphere of her subject into 
her work that the library traveller will glimpse 
the true colouring and catch the real flavour 
as fully as the actual voyager. Residence of 
twenty years in Scotland and frequent jour- 
neys through the country — the last being in 
1910 — are the author's qualifications for her 
undertaking. 

Expressions of appreciation are due to Mrs. 
J. Ravenel Smith, of the Chautauquan maga- 
zine, who is favourably known as a writer and 
lecturer, for her help in the final preparation 
of the material and for seeing the work through 
the press. The manuscript underwent thor- 
ough examination and revision at Mrs. Smith's 
hands, and the task of reading the proofs has 
been left entirely to her. 

The majority of the photographs with 
which the text is illustrated were taken by the 
author, sometimes under trying conditions of 
time and weather. It has been felt that no 
better means of conveying to readers an idea 
of subjects mentioned can possibly be found 

viii 



PREFACE 

than these views, even if a Scottish lake may 
look misty or some ancient castle a bit gloomy. 
They are depicted here just as they appeared 
to her during the visit of last year, of which 
she has in the following pages given a true 
and, she trusts, realistic account 

New York City, 
July 1, 1911. 



IX 



CONTENTS 

CHAPTER PAGE 

I. Some Scottish Characteristics .... 1 

II. The Border 8 

III. Scott's Country 16 

IV. Edinburgh 49 

V. Literary Associations of Edinburgh ... 74 

VI. In Lothian 113 

VII. Two Royal Towns 127 

VIII. The Kingdom of Fife 145 

IX. Perth and Dunkeld .163 

X. Aberdeen, the City of Bon Accord . . .177 

XI. The Valley of the Dee 188 

XII. A Group of Castles 201 

XIII. Inverness and Culloden Moor . . . .214 

XIV. The Great Glen 223 

XV. In Orcadia 240 

XVI. Loch Maree 268 

xi 



CONTENTS 

CHAPTER PAGE 

XVII. Skye, the Isle of Mist , 276 

XVIII. Glencoe and the Land of Lorne .... 299 

XIX. Scenes in "The Lady of the Lake" . . . 320 

XX. Glasgow, the City of St. Kentigern . . 338 

XXI. "We'll a' be Proud o' Robin" . . . .34,6 

Index 375 



xn 



ILLUSTRATIONS 

Laggan Avenue, Caledonian Canal . . Frontispiece I 

OPPOSITE PAGE 

Abbottsford from the Garden Side .... 26 

Kelso Abbey 40 

Edinburgh Castle 52 

Greyfriars Churchyard 82 

Sir Walter Scott and his Friends 98 

Rosslyn Chapel 120 

Stirling Castle 134 

Stirling Bridge, Firth of Forth 140 

Dunfermline Abbey Church Doorway . . . 148 

Ancient Tower of St. Regulus 160 

View from Cathedral Tower, Dunkeld . . . 172 

Loch Tay and Killin 172 

Chiefs of Scottish Clans 192 

Balmoral Castle 198 

Inverness from the Castle 214 

Urquhart Castle, on Loch Ness 224 

Dunnet Head, Most Northerly Point in Scotland 242 

Cromlech and Half-circle of Stones. Stenness 252 

xiii 



ILLUSTRATIONS 

OPPOSITE PAGE 

Church of St. Magnus, Egilsay, Orkney Islands 260 

Sheep Dogs driving a Flock through Dingwall . 268 ' 

Loch Maree, Northwest Highlands of Scotland . 274' 

Crofter's Cottage, Isle of Skye 278 y 

Rocky Heights and Pinnacles of the Quirang . 284 v 

Dunvegan Castle 290 ' 

Dunvegan Loch from Postern Gate of Dunvegan 

Castle 296 / 

Scene of the Glencoe Massacre 304 ' 

Ellen's Isle, Loch Katrine 326 ' 

Glenfinlass : A Typical Highland Scene . . . 330 "I 

Falls of the Clyde, Lanark 336 / 

Glasgow Cathedral 342 

Art Gallery, Glasgow 342 

The Burns Cottage, Ayr 348 

The Brig o' Doon, Ayr 354 >I 



xiv 



English Miles 
ip 20 30 40 sp 



Barr 




Chosen Days in Scotland 

CHAPTER I 

SOME SCOTTISH CHARACTERISTICS 

IN no other country is there compressed into 
so small a space so much wild and roman- 
tic scenery, so many centuries of stormy 
history, and so much fascinating romance as in 
Scotland. Scotland is only three-fifths the 
size of New York State, and yet in that small 
area are many mountains (the highest, Ben 
Nevis, having an altitude of four thousand 
four hundred and six feet) ; innumerable lochs 
(lakes) of great beauty; a coast-line deeply 
indented by bays, sea lochs, and long, wide 
mouths of tidal rivers called firths; and groups 
of unusual islands on the west and in the 
north. 

The country, being readily accessible by sea, 
naturally became a favourite scene for the in- 
cursions and depredations of foreign invaders; 
and in time some of these foreigners settled in 

1 



CHOSEN DAYS IN SCOTLAND 

the land and became part of it. But the 
inhabitants of Scotland — which in its early 
days was called Alban, the name Scotia not 
being used till the eleventh century — suffered 
more from the attacks of their neighbours over 
the Border than from any other foe. Enough 
blood to leave a permanent stain has been 
spilled along the seventy-five miles of the 
changing boundary. Nor were the Borderers 
always peaceful among themselves, for the 
right of the individual — to his own cattle or 
his own religion — was worth unhesitating de- 
fence. Yet, harassed from without or rent 
from within, they were indomitable. 

From early records we learn that the Pictish 
ancestors of the Scots were an independent and 
warlike race; their Celtic forebears, springing 
from two distinct strains of Celtic blood, also 
manifested a marked individuality and love of 
freedom; the Scandinavian element has inten- 
sified these characteristics, adding, perhaps, 
another touch of pride. It is not to be won- 
dered at that the Scots with this make-up 
never knew when they were defeated, and con- 
sequently never remained in defeat but took 
up the contest with renewed strength and de- 
termination, and maintained their national in- 

2 



SOME SCOTTISH CHARACTERISTICS 

dependence until their own Stuart king, in- 
heriting the English crown, peacefully united 
the two kingdoms. After the Union it seemed 
for a time as if the Scots had at last lost their 
freedom, but their centuries of successful 
struggle had fostered a spirit that would 
never yield to what they considered injustice. 

These characteristics, the results of mixed 
races and of stimulating environment, explain 
why Scotland has so varied and romantic a 
history; why a Scotsman cannot be turned 
aside when he has chosen the path he intends 
to follow; why the Scotsman of humblest cir- 
cumstance is never servile; why, with a prac- 
tical nature is combined a temperament that 
passes beyond the plane of the material into 
the supernatural; why the plans of a shrewd 
intelligence are realized; why intensity de- 
velops a notable seriousness; why passion en- 
ters into war and religion and love with equal 
fierceness. 

Of two faults generally attributed to Scots- 
men it may be well to speak. First, as an off- 
set to the frequent assertion that they are 
brusque it will be found that the kindness and 
courtesy of Scotsmen of all classes to strangers 
who are courteous to them is a delightful experi- 

3 



CHOSEN DAYS IN SCOTLAND 

ence, which adds one more charm to the coun- 
try. Next, in reply to the common accusation 
of a lack of humour, it is fair to insist that they 
have humour of their own sort. The very Eng- 
lishmen who berate Scotsmen as too thick- 
headed to see the point of a joke are surprised 
to find themselves regarded in the same light 
by Americans. Humour has its national pecu- 
liarities and it would make for a better under- 
standing among the races of the world if each 
should try to grasp the jokes of his neighbour. 

That Scotsmen, however patriotic, are not 
slavishly bound to their own land has always 
been evident. In the Middle Ages they were 
to be found as soldiers of fortune all over 
Europe, fighting in continental armies and 
studying in foreign universities. To-day they 
are marketing tweeds in New York, raising 
oranges in Florida, running electric plants in 
South America, hunting big game in Africa, 
and mining in Mexico with all their racial en- 
thusiasm and determination, while a sufficient 
contingent is left at home to enter vigorously 
into the conduct of Church and State, and to 
slaughter birds on the twelfth of August. 

Scotland, even to the Orkneys and the Outer 
Hebrides, is dotted over with monuments that 

4 



SOME SCOTTISH CHARACTERISTICS 

range all the way from the prehistoric menhirs, 
cromlechs, and circles of standing stones to the 
ruins of the noble castles and the stately ab- 
beys of the Middle Ages. One cannot travel 
many miles in any direction without seeing 
the ruins of peel towers and castles, with which 
the country abounded and which testify to the 
constant warfare in which the people were en- 
gaged. The architecture varies from the crude 
buildings of a crude people to the employment 
of a developed style. Possibly the most char- 
acteristic expression is that combination of ex- 
quisite and elaborate carving of flowers and 
leaves with the dignified conventionalities of 
determined ecclesiastical forms. 

Many of the place-names of Scotland, es- 
pecially those derived from the Gaelic and the 
Norse, are musical and fascinating. The very 
sound of "Linlithgow" has a charm, and when 
we know that the word means "dear broad 
lake" it is not lessened; "Dunfermline" 
means ' ' crooked hill of Melyn " ; " Argyle, ' ' 
or "Argyll," is the "district of the Gaels." 

Gaelic still is known in the Highlands and 
islands, and its softened gutturals and Scan- 
dinavian borrowings make it musical to hear 
and interesting to study. 

5 



CHOSEN DAYS IN SCOTLAND 

To those who like an invigorating atmos- 
phere and enjoy out-of-door life Scotland offers 
every attraction. The boating on the lochs 
and among the islands stirs a joy that thrills 
even the prosaic traveller, and the coaching 
excursions through famous glens and valleys, 
along the banks of lovely lochs, or over high 
mountain moorlands purple with heather, de- 
light not only for the moment, but fill the 
memory with pictures. Climbers will find 
peaks worthy of their mettle, for anglers there 
is fishing of the best, and those who are fond 
of the ancient game of golf will enjoy playing 
it on its native heath. 

One delightful way of seeing the country 
might be by motor-car. " Might be" — for 
usually the temptation to speed over the splen- 
did roads is so irresistible that few go slowly 
enough to allow their occupants really to enjoy 
the scenery. It must be like flying through 
the country in an express train, where the pic- 
tures come so fast they cannot make a clear 
impression but melt into a confused blur. 
Travellers sitting with old-fashioned compos- 
ure on the decks of the Caledonian Canal 
steamers, enjoying magnificent views of the 
lovely, varied landscape they are gliding by, 

6 



SOME SCOTTISH CHARACTERISTICS 

see darting along the wooded road on the 
banks motor-cars, which flash past in an in- 
stant. Many people now elect to "do" the 
canal trip in this way, thereby losing not only 
much of the beautiful scenery, but also much 
of the real charm of the route. Their rush 
gives the impression that they have no time to 
enjoy the place they are in, but are always 
hurrying to get on to some other spot. It is 
not in this way that the keenest enjoyment 
can be had of any country — least of all of one 
so filled with possibilities that every day may 
easily become one of the "chosen" days that 
burn brightly in the memory. 



CHAPTER II 

THE BORDER 

IT seems as if Nature herself meant to draw a 
line between the northman and the south- 
ron, for across what is one of the narrowest 
parts of the British Isle, from Solway Firth to 
the mouth of the Tweed, she has set a barrier 
that is practically continuous. From the 
rugged Cheviot Hills in the centre, the Liddel 
and the Sark flow southwest into the Solway 
while the Tweed seeks the German Ocean by 
a northeast course. Along this Border the 
pretext of ''self-defence" served, as it does in 
many another part of the world even to-day, 
as an excuse for all sorts of lawlessness. Thus 
there gathered on both sides of the line, ruf- 
fians and freebooters and cattle thieves whose 
raids and robberies kept the Border barons in 
a state of turmoil, in which, perhaps, even they 
were not loath to participate. The rough 
country lent itself to ambush and surprise, 
whose circumvention sharpened wits and pro- 

8 



THE BORDER 

moted activity. It was a life of daring and 
doing, where boldness played high stakes with 
death and often won from utter recklessness. 

With all its sordidness of motive and action 
it was a life of romance, if romance takes 
note of deeds of courage, of wonderful escapes, 
of shrewd chances taken for love's sake, of 
strange warnings, and mysterious guidances. 
There was law about it, too — the binding law 
of hospitality, of loyalty to kindred, of defence 
of wife and child, and of the upholding of 
honour, albeit that was often of the kind 

known "among thieves. " 

That it was a life to stir the imagination is 
shown by the many ballads that sing of Bor- 
der deeds, a half dozen versions now and again 
relating each story. It was no small gift of 
Sir Walter's to the records of his country — his 
collection of Scottish Minstrelsy. 

With the Cheviots stretching their sturdy 
length almost from sea to sea the traveller 
must enter Scotland as they dictate, at one 
end or the other, by Carlisle on the south and 
west, or by Newcastle on the north and east. 
Perhaps the visitor is eager to wed his Scot- 
land quickly, in which case he makes his way 
to the wee village of Gretna Green, for long 

9 



CHOSEN DAYS IN SCOTLAND 

years the Mecca of runaway lovers, even the 
supposedly serious, like Lord Brougham and 
Lord Erskine, and somewhat disappointing to 
any one who expects to find that love heavily 
charged the atmosphere or left behind it any 
expression in beauty. A few miles to the north, 
is Ecclefechan, a grim little town where Car- 
lyle was born. Not far off is Solway Moss, 
where Queen Mary's father, James V, suf- 
fered at the hands of the English a defeat 
that was so bitter to him that he died of the 
humiliation, a few days after the birth of his 
daughter. 

Flowing through this bit of country toward 
the Solway, whose remarkable tides are de- 
scribed in "Redgauntlet" and elsewhere 
("Love swells like the Solway and ebbs like its 
tide"), is the Esk River. This is the storied 
stream young Lochinvar swam "where ford 
there was none" to reach Netherby Hall, still 
standing on Cannobie Lea as when there was 
"racing and chasing" after "the lost bride of 
Netherby. ' ' Liddesdale, not far beyond, re- 
calls Dandie Dinmont; and Hermitage Castle, 
the malign figure of Both well. 

Out of all harmony with its fair setting, 
Hermitage Castle has a history of horror pro- 

10 



THE BORDER 

vided both by the natural and the super- 
natural. In the reign of Robert Bruce it be- 
longed to William de Soulis, who entered into 
a conspiracy against his sovereign. "Boil 
him if you like, but let me hear no more of 
him" Robert is said to have exclaimed pet- 
tishly in the hearing of men who had suf- 
fered from de Soulis' s barbarities, and who 
were only too glad to take the permission lit- 
erally. The stones from which the kettle 
was hung are still shown on a nearby slope to 
silence the doubting. Further proof that the 
castle has seen cruelty lies in the existence, in 
the thickness of the wall, of a dungeon twelve 
feet deep, whose only opening is a hole eighteen 
inches square at the top. It is small wonder 
that the peasantry believed that an evil spirit 
dwelt in the place long before Bothwell's day, 
and that the ruin was sinking into the ground 
because of its sins. 

Near the Teviot is Branksome Tower, whose 
ample walls make it easy to believe the "Lay 
of the Last Minstrel's" declaration that 

' ' Nine-and-twenty knights of fame 

Hung their shields in Branksome Hall ; 
Nine-and-twenty squires of name 

Brought them their steeds to bower from stall; 
11 



CHOSEN DAYS IN SCOTLAND 

Nine-and-twenty yeomen tall 
Waited, duteous, on them all; 
They were all knights of mettle true, 
Kinsmen to the bold Buccleuch. ' ' 

Even now there are but few villages in the 
heart of the Cheviots, but just beyond their 
roughest part, as they trace the Border from 
west to east, and over the English line is the 
fatal Field of Flodden. 

"Even so it was. From Flodden ridge 
The Scots beheld the English host 
Leave Barmore-wood, their English post, 
And, heedful, watched them as they crossed 
The Till by Twisel Bridge. 

On Flodden Field James IV, surrounded by 
his nobles, fought with such rash and short- 
sighted daring that he sacrificed not only his 
own life, but that of the Archbishop of St. 
Andrews and of over two score of the noblest 
blood of Scotland. "The Flowers of the 
Forest, ' ' by Jean Elliot, refers to the battle of 
Flodden. 

' ' Dule and wae for the order, sent our lads to the Border, 
The English for ance by guile won the day : 
The Flowers of the Forest that f oucht aye the foremost, 
The prime of our land are cauld in the clay. 

12 



THE BORDER 

"We'll hear nae mair liltin' at the ewe milkin', 
Women and bairns are heartless and wae; 
Sighin' and moanin' on ilka green loanin' — 
The Flowers of the Forest are a' wede away. 

On the north bank of the Tweed, three miles 
from Flodden, is Coldstream, where, in 1659, 
General Monk raised for the support of 
Charles II the regiment which still bears the 
name of the Coldstream Guards. 

More interesting to lovers of Scott is nearby 
Norham Castle, whose description opens "Mar- 



mion. ' 



"Day set on Norham' s castled steep, 
And Tweed's fair river, broad and deep. " 

Built by Bishop Flamberg of Durham, it 
saw the tumultuous scenes common to the 
Border life of the time, and was also the spot 
where on more than one occasion the sovereigns 
of England and of Scotland met to discuss the 
disputes between them. 

Not far away, at the mouth of the Tweed, is 
Berwick, an English possession since the fif- 
teenth century, but long a subject for fierce 
contention because of its strategic position be- 
tween the two kingdoms. The old part of 
the town is completely encircled by a wall 

13 



CHOSEN DAYS IN SCOTLAND 

which is a vantage point for broad views. The 
chief interest is Lindisf arne, the 'Holy Island' 
of early Christian days. 

' ' It curled not Tweed alone, that breeze, 
For, far upon Northumbrian seas 

It freshly blew and strong, 
Where, from high Whitby's cloistered pile, 
Bound to St. Cuthbert's Holy Isle 

It bore a bark along. 

Lindisf arne is called by Bede a "semi-isle, ' ' be- 
cause it can be reached at low tide by a walk 
of three miles across the sands. The ruins of 
its monastery indicate the great age of the 
building. 

"In Saxon strength that Abbey frowned 
With massive arches broad and round 
That rose alternate, row and row 
On ponderous columns, short and low. ' ' 

"Marmion's" description of the approach 
to Lindisfarne along the Northumbrian coast 
gives a list that cannot be bettered of the 
"sights" in the vicinity of Berwick. 

"And now the vessel skirts the strand 
Of mountainous Northumberland; 
Towns, towers, and halls successive rise, 
And catch the nuns' delighted eyes. 
14 



THE BORDER 

Monk-Wearmouth soon behind them lay, 

And Tynemouth's priory and bay; 

They marked, amid her trees, the hall 

Of lofty Seaton-Delaval ; 

They saw the Blythe and Wansbeck floods 

Rush to the sea thro' sounding woods; 

They passed the tower of Widderington, 

Mother of many a valiant son; 

At Coquet-isle their beads they tell 

To the good Saint who owned the cell; 

Then did the Alne attention claim, 

And Warkworth, proud of Percy's name; 

And next they crossed themselves to hear 

The whitening breakers sound so near, 

Where, boiling through the rocks, they roar 

On Dunstanborough's caverned shore; 

Thy tower, proud Bamborough, marked they there, 

King Ida's castle, huge and square, 

From its tall rock looks grimly down, 

And on the swelling ocean frown; 

Then from the coast they bore away, 

And reached the Holy Island's bay." 



15 



CHAPTER III 

SCOTT'S COUNTRY 

MELROSE, a quaint little town, is de- 
lightfully situated on the Tweed at the 
foot of the Eildon Hills and in the 
heart of a country thrilling with romance 
which makes it an objective point for countless 
pilgrims to-day as it was many centuries ago. 
Within a fifteen mile radius from Melrose is a 
charmed circle that has not only some of the 
loveliest scenery of Scotland, but also many of 
the most famous places of Scottish song and 
story. It is a large part of that celebrated 
Border country, whose stormy life of long ago 
is preserved in the stirring old ballads Sir 
Walter loved. Within this circle are the ruins 
of four stately abbeys, the remains of royal 
castles, many Border keeps or peels, and the 
very soul of the ballad country, the Vale of 
Yarrow. Above all, here is Abbotsf ord, filled 
with memories of the genius who so caught 
the spirit of the past and made it real to us 

16 



SCOTT'S COUNTRY 

that he has been called ' ' The Wizard of the 
North." 

In the sleepy little town of Melrose, with its 
aged market cross, stands the most beautiful 
monastic ruin of Scotland. Indeed it would 
be difficult to find one more beautiful in any 
land. The original Monastery of Melrose was 
founded two miles farther down the river in 
the time of Columba. Under St. Cuthbert 
it had a widespread influence, but it was in 
time destroyed, and Queen Margaret's son, 
David I, that "sair sanct to the crown," ac- 
cording to James VI, rebuilt it on its present 
site and endowed it with broad, rich lands, 
which are quaintly enumerated in the follow- 
ing extract from the royal charter granting 
the Abbey to the Cistercian Order of monks. 

"I, David I, by the grace of God King of the 
Scots, .... have granted and given to God, and to 
St. Mary of Melrose, and to the Monks of Rievalle 
serving God at that place, and to their successors, for 
a perpetual possession, the lands of Melrose, and the 
whole land of Eildon, and the whole land of Der- 
nick, .... all the fruits, and pasture, and timber 
in my land, and in the forest of Selkirk and Traquair, 
and between Gala and Leader water, besides both the 
fishery on the Tweed everywhere, on this side of the 

17 



CHOSEN DAYS IN SCOTLAND 

river as on mine .... I have given and confirmed 
to them, in addition, the whole land and pasture of 
Gattonside. ' ' 

In the days when the possession of land 
meant power, the religious houses grew to im- 
portance, for, in addition to the grants made 
by the king, the abbeys received many gifts 
from the nobles; and their abbots, who were 
men of learning and affairs, exercised great 
influence over the country. The rules of the 
different orders were strict, and through sev- 
eral centuries were rigidly enforced. The 
great establishments were centres of learning, 
of handicraft, and of agriculture, and they 
must have disseminated much knowledge of 
different kinds among the people living near 
them. The poor were under their protec- 
tion. 

Since Melrose Abbey was on the highway 
from England to Scotland it now threw open 
its gates to weary travellers and then kept 
them closed against a foe. It was destroyed 
by Edward II, and rebuilt by Robert Bruce. 
Richard II, after spending the night there, 
set fire to the fane in the morning. Its final 
destruction was at the hands of the vandal 

18 



SCOTT'S COUNTRY 

Hertford, obedient to the command of Henry 
VIII. Tradition says that the Earl of Hert- 
ford and his troops were on their way back to 
England, having passed Melrose and Dry- 
burgh, when they heard the bells of one of the 
monasteries ringing an incautiously joyful 
peal, expressive of the relief of the monks who 
had so often been harried and driven forth by 
the enemy. It was their death-knell, for at 
the sound the English hurried back and the 
destruction of the Abbey followed. It is a 
cause for thanksgiving that Hertford did not 
raze the beautiful structure to the ground; as a 
matter of fact rather more of it remains than 
of the other abbeys of this region. What the 
English left was still further despoiled by the 
Reformers, and the ruin was used as a quarry 
by the people of the neighbourhood. 

The wall enclosing the Abbey precincts was 
over a mile around, but of the extensive mo- 
nastic buildings only the ruins of the Abbey 
church are left. The church, built in the 
form of a cross, is a most exquisitely beautiful 
piece of Gothic architecture, whether it is 
illuminated by the rays of the sun or "by the 
pale moonlight. ' ' In looking at the east oriel, 
the finest feature of the ruins, enjoyment is 

19 



CHOSEN DAYS IN SCOTLAND 

enhanced by recalling the description in "The 
Lay of the Last Minstrel: " 

"The moon on the east oriel shone 
Through slender shafts of shapely stone, 

By foliaged tracery combined. 
Thou wouldst have thought some fairy's hand 
'Twixt poplars straight the osier wand 

In many a freakish knot had twined, 
Then framed a spell when the work was done, 
And changed the willow wreaths to stone. 
The silver light, so pale and faint, 
Showed many a prophet and many a saint, 

Whose image on the glass was dyed. 
Full in the midst his cross of red 
Triumphant Michael brandished, 

And trampled the Apostate's pride; 
The moonbeam kissed the holy pane, 
And threw on the pavement a bloody stain. 

In the chancel is the tomb of Michael Scot, 
the famous scholar and traveller of the thir- 
teenth century. He had delved deep into the 
occult sciences of the age and displayed powers 
which made him known throughout Europe, 
and gave him the name of the "Wizard. ' 

"The wondrous Michael Scot, 
A wizard of such dreaded fame, 
That when in Salamanca's cave 
Him listed his magic wand to wave, 
The bells would ring in Notre Dame J ' ' 
20 



SCOTT'S COUNTRY 

Under the east window, among the ruins of 
the Abbey which his munificence restored, is 
buried the heart of Robert Bruce, brought 
back from Spain with the body of his friend, 
Sir James Douglas, who had set sail with a 
large retinue to carry the heart of Bruce to 
the Holy Land to place it in the Holy 
Sepulchre. Of a worthy local family a quaintly 
carved legend says: 

"THE DUST OF MANY GENERATIONS OF THE 
BOSTONS OF GATTONSIDE IS DEPOSITED IN 
THIS PLACE. WE GIVE OUR BODIES TO THIS 
HOLY ABBEY TO KEEP." 

The cloisters are entered through Deloraine's 
doorway — the "steele-clenched postern" of 
"The Lay" 1 — near which is the inscription 



1 "By a steele-clenched postern door, 

They enter'd now the chancel tall ; 
The darken'd roof rose high aloof 

On pillars lofty and light and small : 
The key-stone, that locked each ribbed aisle, 
Was a fleur-de-lys, or a quatre-feuille ; 
The corbells were carved grotesque and grim ; 
And the pillars, with cluster'd shafts so trim, 
With base and with capital flourish'd around, 
Seemed bundles of lances which garlands had bound." 

21 



CHOSEN DAYS IN SCOTLAND 

whose dignity so impressed Washington 

Irving: 

"HEIR LYIS THE RACE 
OF YE HOUS OF ZAIR." 

Of the exquisite carving of the cloisters, 
Lockhart declares that they are "unrivalled 
by anything anywhere extant, I do not say in 
Gothic architecture merely, but in any archi- 
tecture whatever. Roses and lilies, and this- 
tles, and ferns and heaths, in all their varie- 
ties, and oak leaves and ash leaves, and a 
thousand beautiful shapes besides, are chiseled 
with such inimitable truth, and such grace of 
nature, that the finest botanist in the world 
could not desire a better hortus siccus, so far 
as they go. ' ' 

The greater part of the Abbey is built of a 
greyish-pink stone that hardens with age, and 
perhaps that is the reason that most of the 
carvings which have not been defaced by the 
hand of man are as fresh as if they had been 
finished yesterday. 

In the churchyard, from the southeast cor- 
ner of which is a beautiful view of the Abbey, 
are several interesting tombstones, one of them 
bearing lines often quoted by Scott. 

22 



SCOTT'S COUNTRY 

"THE EARTH GOETH ON THE EARTH, 

GLIST'RING LIKE GOLD; 
THE EARTH GOES TO THE EARTH 

SOONER THAN IT WOLD; 
THE EARTH BUILDS ON THE EARTH 

CASTLES AND TOWERS; 
THE EARTH SAYS TO THE EARTH, 

ALL SHALL BE OURS." 

Not far from this is the stone erected by Sir 
Walter in memory of his faithful servant, 
Thomas Purdie, the forester at Abbotsford. 
The inscription is simple and appreciative. 

It has a great charm, the old Abbey, with 
its graceful arches, flying buttresses, delicate 
tracery, lovely carvings, and wealth of associ- 
ations. Scott, we are told, loved to linger in 
the ruin, and a stone is pointed out where he 
used to rest. He often took his friends over 
the Abbey, and he made a farewell visit here 
before his death. Though so often quoted, his 
descriptive lines never can be too often re- 
called: 

1 ' If thou wouldst view fair Melrose aright, 
Go visit it by the pale moonlight; 
For the gay beams of lightsome day 
Gild, but to flout the ruins grey. 
23 



CHOSEN DAYS IN SCOTLAND 

When the broken arches are black in night, 

And each shafted oriel glimmers white; 

When the cold light's uncertain shower 

Streams on the ruined central tower; 

When buttress and buttress, alternately, 

Seem framed of ebon and ivory; 

When silver edges the imagery, 

And the scrolls that teach thee to live and die; 

When distant Tweed is heard to rave, 

And the owlet to hoot o'er the dead man's grave, 

Then go — but go alone the while — 

Then view St. David's ruined pile; 

And, home returning, soothly swear, 

Was never scene so sad and fair ' 

The beauty of the gardens and orchards and 
rich green meadows that surround Melrose is 
a legacy from the Cistercian monks who 
brought their broad acres under a state of great 
cultivation. "The Monastery" gives a faith- 
ful description of life in these old monastic es- 
tablishments. 

Beside Melrose rise the Eildon Hills of many 
legends. According to tradition the three 
summits were conjured from one by the magic 
of Michael Scot. 

"And, warrior, I could say to thee 
The words that cleft Eildon Hills in three. ' ' 

24 



SCOTT'S COUNTRY 

One legend relates that in the caverns of this 
hill Arthur and his knights sleep in full 
armour, awaiting "the blast of the trumpet 
which shall wake them at Scotland's need." 

"Beside each coal-black courser sleeps a knight, 
A raven plume waves o'er each helmed crest, 
And black the mail which binds each manly breast. 

"Say, who is he, with summons strong and high, 
That bids the charmed sleep of ages fly, 
Rolls the long sound through Eildon's caverns vast, 
While each dark warrior rouses at the blast, 
His horn, his falchion grasps with mighty hand, 
And peals proud Arthur's march from Fairyland?" 
— Leyden's "Scenes of Infancy," Part II. 

Scott's charming ballad, "Thomas the Rhy- 
mer, ' ' tells another picturesque legend of the 
Eildon Hills, where, in less mythical days, the 
Romans had a camp. 

From the Abbey every traveller makes his 
way promptly to that shrine of American pil- 
grims, stately Abbotsford. It is a pleasant 
drive of three miles through a smiling country 
of fertile fields which once formed a small part 
of the extensive holdings of the Abbey of Mel- 
rose. The home of the great Borderer stands 
on the south bank of the Tweed, on a site that 
to the ordinary observer would have possessed 

25 



CHOSEN DAYS IN SCOTLAND 

little attraction. Its possibilities, however, 
were so clear to Sir Walter's vision that the 
house he built and the woods he planted make 
a beautiful picture. His ambition to be a 
"laird," to found a new branch of the Scott 
family, and to entertain his friends with true 
Border hospitality, began its realization in a 
hundred acres of land which, before his death, 
increased to more than a thousand, while the 
cottage of the beginning grew to a castle or 
"manor-house" as he liked to call it. 

As visitors are admitted by a rear entrance 
on the garden side of the house, they miss the 
imposing front view of Abbotsford usually 
seen in photographs. Sir Walter fulfilled his 
desire to exercise unlimited hospitality, for up 
to the last days his home was almost always 
full of guests. Wordsworth writes of his own 
visit there, on the eve of Sir Walter's departure 
for Naples, where he went on that vain, sad 
search for health: "The inmates and guests 
we found there were Sir Walter, Major Scott, 
Anne Scott, and Mr. and Mrs. Lockhart; Mr. 
Liddell, his lady and brother, and Mr. Allan, 
the painter; and Mr. Laidlaw, a very old 
friend of Sir Walter's. One of Burns 's sons, 
an officer in the Indian service, had left the 

26 







s 

M 

J/2 

« 

H 

O 
h 

P 

o 

as 
H 
H 
O 



SCOTT'S COUNTRY 

house a day or two before, and had kindly ex- 
pressed his regret that he could not await my 
arrival, a regret that I may truly say was 
mutual. In the evening Mr. and Mrs. Liddell 
sang, and Mrs. Lockhart chanted old ballads 
to her harp; and Mr. Allan, hanging over the 
back of a chair, told and acted odd stories in a 
humourous way. With this exhibition, and 
his daughter's singing, Sir Walter was much 
amused, as indeed were we all as far as circum- 
stances would allow. ' ' 

A wicket-gate opens upon a narrow, grav- 
elled path leading to a basement-room. 
Registering in the visitors' book precedes ad- 
mission into the book-lined study upstairs. It 
looks almost as if the great author had just 
left the room, where, before the desk at which 
most of the Waverleys were written, stands 
the big, worn leather chair pushed a little 
aside. It was always a matter for wonder to 
Sir Walter's friends that he could accomplish 
so much and yet have time at his disposal. 
Around the room runs a light gallery reached 
by a small spiral staircase by which the "Wiz- 
ard" could disappear, unobserved, to his own 
room. 

From the study opens the spacious library, 

27 



CHOSEN DAYS IN SCOTLAND 

in which, we are told, there are about twenty 
thousand volumes, many of them rare and of 
great value. In this room hangs a full-length 
portrait of Scott's beloved son, Walter, who 
died in 1847. Here also is the Chantrey bust 
which Lockhart said " alone preserves for pos- 
terity the cast of expression most fondly re- 
membered by all who mingled in Scott's 
domestic circle." In the drawing-room is a 
beautiful portrait of Scott by Raeburn. The 
other portraits are of Lady Scott; Scott's 
mother; his daughters, Anne and Sophia; and 
his great-granddaughter, the Hon. Mrs. Max- 
well Scott, the wife of the Hon. Constable- 
Maxwell. Their eldest son, Walter, is the 
heir of the estate, which was said to be entailed, 
but which is supposed to have been sold recent- 
ly to an American. In a cabinet in the draw- 
ing-room are many relics, among them the 
crucifix carried by Mary, Queen of Scots, when 
she went to her death in Fotheringay Castle. 
The windows of the dining-room, which is 
not shown to tourists, overlook the Tweed. It 
was in this room, where they had brought him 
that he might enjoy the view he loved so well, 
that the great man died. The armoury and 
the adjoining entrance-hall have a most inter- 

28 



SCOTT'S COUNTRY 

esting collection of arms and suits of mail and 
other historic relics. The sword of the great 
Montrose, the pistol of Claverhouse, the sword, 
gun, dirk, and sporran of Rob Roy, the keys 
of Loch Leven Castle, the rifle of Andreas 
Hof er, the Tyrolese patriot, portraits of Prince 
Charles Edward, which probably gave Sir 
Walter the descriptions of the young "Cheva- 
lier" in "Waverley, " the enormous keys of 
the Edinburgh Tolbooth, the last suit worn 
by Sir Walter, the mistletoe chest of Ginevra 
— these are a few of the treasures in the collec- 
tion at Abbotsford. It is difficult to escape a 
feeling of sadness in these rooms so thronged 
with associations, the saddest of them all the 
last brave, successful effort of the unconquered 
soul whose genius converted his dreams of a 
home to be handed down to his posterity into 
a reality which now to some degree belongs to 
all who love his memory. 

A few miles farther up the Tweed lies 
Ashestiel, which for many reasons deserves to 
be almost as great a shrine as Abbotsford, for 
it was Scott's home during eight of the hap- 
piest years of his life. It was here that he 
finished "The Lay of the Last Minstrel' ' and 
wrote "Marmion" and "The Lady of the 

29 



CHOSEN DAYS IN SCOTLAND 

Lake. " It is a charming place, of which Lock- 
hart says that a "more beautiful situation as 
the home of a poet could not be conceived. " 

A few miles south lies Selkirk, which, 
though a very old town, may be passed lightly, 
as its greatest attractions are its proximity to 
the charmed regions of Ettrick and Yarrow, 
and the memory that Scott was Sheriff of Sel- 
kirkshire for thirty-two years, a fact commem- 
orated by a statue. Another statue honours 
Mungo Park, the African explorer and Scott's 
friend, who was born but a few miles away. 

Across the Ettrick Water from Selkirk is 
Philiphaugh, the scene of the defeat (in 1645) 
of the Royalist forces under Montrose. This 
battle brought to an end the brilliant cam- 
paign conducted by Montrose for over a year, 
during which, with small resources, he won six 
victories. Undoubtedly in both armies were 
men like those admired by Burns's lasses: 

"There's braw, braw lads on Yarrow braes, 

That wander through the blooming heather; 
But Yarrow braes nor Ettrick shaws 
Can match the lads o' Gala Water." 

Carterhaugh, the tongue of land where the 
Yarrow and the Ettrick join, is the scene of 

30 



SCOTT'S COUNTRY 

one of the best known and most ancient of the 
Scottish fairy ballads, "Tamlane." 

"0 1 forbid ye, maidens a' 

That wear gowd on your hair, 

To come or gae by Carterhaugh, 

For young Tamlane is there. " 

Ettrick Forest, once a royal hunting ground, 
covered the gentle, rounding slope of the hills 
that overlook Yarrow, and indeed extended all 
the way to Ayrshire. In "The Outlaw Mur- 
ray," in the "Border Minstrelsy," it is thus 
described: 

"Ettrick Forest is a fair forest, 

In it grows many a seemly tree; 
There's hart and hind, and dae and rae 
And of a' wild beasts great plentie. " 

In Scott's day the rough slopes were given over 
to sheepwalks, and to-day there are no trees 
on the green-clad hills, which nevertheless are 
fair, and, though they have been the scene of 
many a Border strife, now have the great 
charm of peace. 

The beauties of the Vale of Yarrow are pic- 
tured by James Hogg, the "Ettrick Shep- 
herd," whose whole life was spent in this 

31 



CHOSEN DAYS IN SCOTLAND 

region, and by Scott, Wordsworth, Leyden, 
and a host of other writers. The spot has 
always been a favourite subject for poets, and 
its charms have been sung in countless bal- 
lads. 

Scott introduces Newark Tower, on the 
south bank of Yarrow Water, into "The Lay 
of the Last Minstrel. " 

"He passed where Newark's stately tower 
Looks down from Yarrow's birchen bower. " 

The tower, splendidly situated on a knoll, was 
a royal residence, and is very old. 

"Then oft, from Newark's riven tower, 
Sallied a Scottish monarch's power; 
A thousand vassals muster 'd round, 
With horse, and hawk, and horn, and hound. 

Near Yarrow is supposed to have taken place 
the great combat described in the ballad 
"The Dowie Dens of Yarrow": 

"Late at e'en, drinking the wine, 
And ere they paid the lawing, 
They set a combat them between, 
To fight it in the dawing. 

The most romantic part of the Vale is beau- 

32 



SCOTT'S COUNTRY 

tiful St. Mary's Loch, which has been best de- 
scribed by Scott in "Marmion": 

"By lone St. Mary's silent lake; 
Thou knowest it well — nor fen nor sedge 
Pollute the pure lake's crystal edge; 
Abrupt and sheer, the mountains sink 
At once upon the level brink; 
And just a trace of silver sand 
Marks where the water meets the land. 
Far in the mirror, bright and blue, 
Each hill's huge outline you may view; 
Shaggy with heath, but lonely, bare, 
Nor tree, nor bush, nor brake, is there. 
Save where of land, yon slender line 
Bears thwart the lake the scatter' d pine. 
Yet even his nakedness has power, 
And aids the feeling of the hour; 
Nor thicket, dell, nor copse you spy, 
Where living thing concealed might lie; 
Nor point, retiring, hides a dell, 
Where swain, or woodman lone, might dwell? 
There's nothing left to fancy's guess, 
You see that all is loneliness; 
And silence aids — though the steep hills 
Send to the lake a thousand rills; 
In summertide, so soft they weep, 
The sound but lulls the ear asleep: 
Your horse's hoof -tread sounds too rude, 
So stilly is the solitude. 
Then gaze on Dryhope's ruin'd tower, 
And think on Yarrow's faded flower." 
33 



CHOSEN DAYS IN SCOTLAND 

At the north end of the Loch is the ruined 
Tower of Dryhope, once the home of Mary 
Scott, the " Flower of Yarrow" sung by Allan 
Ramsay. 

On a ridge separating St. Mary's Loch from 
the smaller Loch of the Lowes just beyond, is 
Tibbie Shiels's Inn, a hostelry which became 
famous as the resort of Scott, Hogg, Wilson 
("Christopher North") and many of their cel- 
ebrated contemporaries. A statue of the 
"Ettrick Shepherd" has been erected near by. 

Among the countless charming spots here- 
abouts is Traquair. It lies a few miles over 
the hills to the north, and its woods are more 
than suggestive x>f the lost ballad, "The Bush 
aboon Traquair." Traquair House (whose 
oldest part was built in 900) was once a royal 
palace, for five hundred years a possession of 
the Stuart family. With its tower and turrets 
and other mediaeval characteristics it is an ad- 
mirable example of the stately mansions of 
centuries ago. Many other houses claim to 
be the original of "Tullyveolan," but as Scott 
was living within a few miles of Traquair 
House when he began "Waverley," he prob- 
ably had this place in mind. 

South of the Yarrow is the Valley of the 

34 



SCOTT'S COUNTRY 

Ettrick, whose beauty adds to the enchant- 
ment of this region. 

From Melrose a lovely drive of six miles 
leads to the vicinity of Dryburgh Abbey. 
This drive was so beloved by Sir Walter Scott 
that when his funeral train passed over it, the 
horses stopped of their own accord at a point 
commanding one of his favourite views. The 
Abbey stands on a well-wooded peninsula in 
a sharp bend of the Tweed, southeast of Mel- 
rose. The Tweed is crossed by a long foot- 
bridge not far from the beautiful ruin of 
which Wordsworth says: 

->. 

"There's Gala Water, Leader Haughs, 
Both lying right before us; 
And Dryburgh, where, with chiming Tweed, 
The lintwhites sing in chorus. ' ' 

The Abbey has a lovely setting of velvety 
greensward and noble trees — cedar, sycamore, 
and yew. One of the yews is said to be as old 
as the Abbey itself, which was founded in 1150 
by Hugh de Moreville and his wife Beatrice 
de Beauchamp. Hugh de Moreville was the 
nephew of the de Moreville concerned in the 
assassination of Thomas a Becket. 

Dryburgh was richly endowed and had wide 

35 



CHOSEN DAYS IN SCOTLAND 

possessions. Its monks belonged to the Prae- 
monstratensian order. The heads of the Ab- 
bey wore the title "Lord Abbot," and many 
of them were men of state as well as of affairs, 
filling such offices as those of ambassador and 
envoy. These monks seem to have been fa- 
voured at Rome, for among the papal bulls is 
one granted by Pope Lucius III in 1183, in 
which he ' ' granted them permission, whenever 
the Kingdom was laid under an interdict, to 
celebrate Divine service in their church in a 
low voice with the doors shut and without 
ringing of bells, all excommunicated and in- 
terdicted persons being shut out. ' ' 

Like its neighbours, Dryburgh suffered from 
the incendiary habits of Edward II, Richard 
II, and the Earl of Hertford, as well as from 
the zeal of the Reformers. The ruins, on 
which grow masses of ivy and laburnum, be- 
long, for the most part, to the Norman and 
the early Gothic periods. There are many 
fine arches and a beautiful St. Catherine's win- 
dow. Beneath the floor of the chapter-house 
lie the remains of the founders. St. Mary's 
aisle, a part of the north transept, is of early 
English Gothic. Beneath are three vaults, one 
of them that of the Haliburtons from whom 

36 



SCOTT'S COUNTRY 

Scott was descended and to whom the Abbey 
once belonged. This is why the body of Sir 
Walter is buried here with the remains of Lady 
Scott, their eldest son and his wife, and J. G. 
Lockhart, the writer's son-in-law. Here also 
is the vault of the Haigs of Bemerside, of whom 
Thomas of Ercildoune prophesied: 

"Come weal, come woe, whate'er betide, \ 
There'll aye be Haigs in Bemersyde. " 

There are still Haigs in Bemerside, though the 
prophesy was made nearly seven hundred years 
ago. 

Dryburgh is so out of the beaten track that 
it is a haven of peace and rest, and a stay among 
its vine-covered ruins makes one forget the 
flying hours. 

At about an equal distance — some six or 
seven miles — from Dryburgh and Melrose is 
Sandyknowe. Here was the farm of Scott's 
grandfather — 

. . . "the thatched mansion's grey-haired Sire, 
Wise without learning, plain and good, 
And sprung of Scotland's gentler blood" — 

— and here the eighteen months' old Walter, 
already a victim to the infantile paralysis that 

37 



CHOSEN DAYS IN SCOTLAND 

was a gift of the basement nursery of the old 
house in Edinburgh's College Wynd, received 
from the open-air life of the country the 
counteracting gift of the robust health that 
caused Carlyle to say of him that 4 'no sounder 
piece of British manhood was put together in 
that eighteenth century of Time. ' ' It was at 
Sandyknowe that the sensitive boy at an im- 
pressionable age drank in the Border tales and 
legends told him by his Aunt Janet and by 
his caretakers, the shepherd in the field, the 
housekeeper knitting before the fire, and the 
dairymaid hastening through the dusk lest 
witchcraft be abroad. He made the nearby 
woods and rocks so much his own that they 
were ever before him when he needed them for 
verse or prose. Smailholme Tower, ruined by 
Cromwell, on its bold promontory above the 
Tweed, made especial appeal to his imagina- 
tion. He alludes to it in the introduction to 
"Marmion": 

"Then rise those crags, that mountain tower, 
Which charmed my fancy ' s wakening hour, 

and he made it the scene of the Border ballad, 
"The Eve of St. John," which ends with a 
truly Presbyterian bestowal of justice. 

38 



SCOTT'S COUNTRY 

"There is a nun in Dryburgh bower 
Ne'er looks upon the sun; 
There is a monk in Melrose tower, 
He speaketh word to none. 

"That nun who ne'er beholds the day, 
That monk who speaks to none — 
That nun was Smaylho'me's Lady gay, 
That monk the bold Baron. 

A few miles farther down, where the Tweed 
is joined by the Teviot, stand the ruins of 
still another Abbey church. Kelso Abbey re- 
sembles a Norman Castle rather than a relig- 
ious building, probably with good reason, for 
undoubtedly its inmates needed ample protec- 
tion in the troublous days of Border warfare. 
The scene around the town of Kelso is described 
by Scott's friend Leyden in "Scenes of In- 
fancy": 

' ' Teviot farewell ! for now thy silver tide 
Commixed with Tweed's pellucid stream shall glide; 
But all thy green and pastoral beauties fail 
To match the softness of thy parting vale; 
Bosom 'd in woods, where mighty rivers run, 
Kelso's fair vale expands before the sun: 
Its rising downs in vernal beauty swell, 
And, fring'd with hazel, winds each flowery dell; 
Green spangled plains to dimpling lawns succeed, 
And Tempe rises on the banks of Tweed ; 

39 



CHOSEN DAYS IN SCOTLAND 

Blue o'er the river Kelso's shadow lies, 
And copse-clad isles amid the waters rise. ' ' 

The ruin of the Abbey is quite different from 
either Melrose or Dryburgh, though it has al- 
most the same history. Its massive tower, 
with part of its chancel and the transepts, is 
almost all that is left of the once extensive 
building. The foundation was originally made 
at Selkirk by Prince David, but when he be- 
came king he transferred the establishment to 
Kelso in 1128. Its monks, who belonged to 
the Tyronensian order, were distinguished not 
only for their learning, but also for their skill 
as artisans. A qualification for admittance to 
the order was knowledge of one of the useful 
or the ornamental arts, and the institution 
played a serviceable part in the life of the dis- 
trict, both as a craft school and as a provider 
of trained workmen for any undertaking. 
The monks of Kelso were especially noted for 
their beautiful writing and illumination of 
manuscripts. 

The Abbey became enormously wealthy, its 
possessions extending as far north as Aberdeen, 
and its abbots rivalling the Scottish bishops in 
power and influence. Here James III was 
crowned, and here, after his father's death at 

40 




w 

P5 
PQ 

< 
© 

CO 



SCOTT'S COUNTRY 

Sauchieburn, was crowned James IV, who fell 
at Flodden. The church's later history, how- 
ever, is the often-repeated tale of dispossession 
at the time of the Reformation, of destruction 
at the hands of the English, especially of Hert- 
ford in 1545, and of desecration by the troops 
of the Covenanters after Charles I was given 
over to the English. In 1699 the lower part 
of the ruins was used as a Reformed church. 
Above it a sort of garret served the purpose of 
a prison, the spot which Edie Ochiltree in the 
"Antiquary" describes with much philosophy 
as * ' not such a doom's bad place. ' Still other 
vicissitudes have made the building a play- 
ground for schoolboys and the workshop of a 
firm of millwrights. It belongs now to the 
Duke of Roxburgh, to whose ancestor, Sir 
Robert Kerr, it was granted in 1592. 

The town of Kelso has grown up among the 
trees and meadows by which the Abbey for- 
merly was surrounded. Scott, who, at the 
age of ten, went to the Grammar School, 
which was then attached to the rear of the 
Abbey, called Kelso "the prettiest village in 
Scotland." In 1715 the Pretender was pro- 
claimed James VIII in the Market Place. 

At Kelso the Tweed and the Teviot unite. 

41 



CHOSEN DAYS IN SCOTLAND 

Michael Scot, the Wizard, is said to have had 
strange dealings here with Satan, whom he 
forced to set stepping-stones across the stream. 

"He bridled the Tweed with a curb of stone," 

says the "Lay. " 

On a mound half a mile from Teviot Bridge 
are a few fragments of thick wall, the only 
remnants of what was once the strongest of 
the Border fortresses and a royal stronghold. 
Roxburgh Castle had a rich and varied history 
from the time when David I lived there as 
Earl of Northumberland. Across the Tweed 
from this historic spot is Fleurs or Floors 
Castle, an early eighteenth century building 
in the Tudor style, the modern seat of the 
Duke of Roxburgh. 

A branch railroad running through green 
fields and following the winding Teviot brings 
us to the most famous of the old Border towns, 
Jedburgh, the county seat of Roxburgh. It 
is a quaint, clean little place on the Jed Water, 
which Ley den addresses: 

' ' Oh softly, Jed ! thy sylvan current lead 
Round every hazel copse and smiling mead, 
Where lines of firs the glowing landscape screen, 
And crown the heights with tufts of deeper green. ' ' 

42 



SCOTT'S COUNTRY 

In ancient times the village was surrounded 
by Jed Forest, as famous in its way as Ettrick 
Forest. In this vicinity many battles were 
fought in which the Jedburgh burghers are 
reputed to have taken a joyous part. Their 
town often was seized by the enemy, and they 
were always on the defensive, ready to serve 
out "Jethart justice," which, as is too often 
true with our own Lynch law, made hanging 
precede investigation. 

The Castle of Jedburgh was one of the 
strongest on the Border, and was a favourite 
place of residence of many of Scotland's kings, 
among them David I, his grandson, Mal- 
colm IV, William the Lion, who was seized 
by Henry II of England and bought his free- 
dom only by acknowledging the feudal author- 
ity of his captor, and Alexander II, who sided 
with the barons against King John in the 
struggle which resulted in the giving of Magna 
Charta. Alexander III, the last Scottish King 
crowned at Scone on the Stone of Destiny, was 
married in Jedburgh Abbey to Jolande, the 
lovely daughter of the Count of Dreux, and 
the marriage festivities culminated in a masked 
ball given at the Castle. When the gaiety 
was at its height, as the King was about to 

43 



CHOSEN DAYS IN SCOTLAND 

take the hand of the Queen, who was his part- 
ner in the dance, he met the outstretched 
hand of a skeleton. The spectre kept pace 
before him, and terror filled the royal pair 
and their guests at the sight of the appa- 
rition. The Lord Abbot raised his crucifix 
and was about to exorcise the dreadful vision 
when it disappeared. At the king's com- 
mand the revels ceased. In six months Alex- 
ander was dead. Thomas. Heywood, the sev- 
enteenth century English dramatist, tells the 
story of this grisly happening in his long po- 
em, "The Hierarchy of the Blessed Angels" 
(1635). 

' ' In the mid revels, the first ominous night 
Of their espousals, when the room shone bright 
With lighted tapers — the King and Queen leading 
The curious measures, lords and ladies treading 
The self-same strains — the King looks back by chance 
And spies a strange intruder fill the dance; 
Namely, a mere anatomy; quite bare, 
His naked limbs both without flesh and hair 
(As we decipher Death), who stalks about, 
Keeping true measure till the dance be out. 
The King, with all the rest, affrighted stand, 
The spectre vanished, and then strict command 
Was given to break up revels; each 'gan fear 
The other, and presage disaster near. 

44 



SCOTT'S COUNTRY 

If any ask, what did of this succeed? 
The King soon after falling from his steed 
Unhappily died; after whose death, ensuing, 
Was to the land sedition, wrack, and ruin. 

What is left of the magnificent red sandstone 
Abbey stands at the top of the town on the 
bank of the Jed, with rich meadows and stately 
old trees across the river. This, another of 
King David's foundations, was built in the 
form of a St. John's cross about 1150, and 
suffered from the same disasters that bef el the 
other three abbeys of this section. The ruin 
is noble and imposing, though all that is now 
standing is the great tower with one of the 
transepts and the nave. Fergusson, the author- 
ity on architecture, considers that the Norman 
work of the abbey churches of Jedburgh and 
Kelso show that when they were built, the 
style was developed and understood. Much 
of the decoration is delicate and graceful, and 
the fancy turns as always in such spots to con- 
templation of the reverend workmen, toiling 
to beautify the shrine they loved. Scott says: 

"The sacred tapers' lights are gone, 
Grey moss has clad the altar stone, 
The holy image is o'erthrown, 
The bell has ceased to toll; 

45 



CHOSEN DAYS IN SCOTLAND 

The long ribb'd aisles are burst and shrunk, 
The holy shrines to ruin sunk, 
Departed is the pious monk — 
God's blessing on his soul!" 

One of these chapels of the Abbey was used 
for a long time to house the Grammar School, 
whose best known pupil was James Thomson, 
author of "The Seasons." Mary Somerville, 
the mathematician, was born in the manse 
near the Abbey in 1780, and the Jedburghers 
are glad to claim Sir David Brewster as a 
native of the town. 

Like every spot with which Queen Mary had 
connection, a special interest attaches to the 
house in Jedburgh where she lodged when, 
five years after her return from France to take 
possession of her kingdom, she went to the 
Border to hold a Justice Aire that should deal 
summarily with the ruffians who were troub- 
ling the marches. Bothwell, whose strong 
will already was drawing Mary to him and to 
her destruction, was at that time Warden of 
the Marches and it was a part of his duty to cap- 
ture the freebooters and take them before the 
court. He was wounded in an encounter 
with John Eliot of the Park, who, according 
to the ballad, boasted of his success: 

46 



SCOTT'S COUNTRY 

"I vanquished the Queen's Lieutenant 
And gar'd his fierce troopers flee: 
My name it is little Jock Eliot 
And wha daur meddle wi' me?" 

Bothwell was carried to Hermitage Castle in 
a dangerous condition which roused acutest 
anxiety in the breast of Mary. Accompanied 
by an escort of her nobles she rode at such 
speed as a broken and dangerous country per- 
mitted to see her lieutenant, and, after a two 
hour conference with him, returned at once to 
Jedburgh. The exhausting forty mile expedi- 
tion threw the Queen into a fever the very next 
day, and for three weeks she lay ill, sometimes 
unconscious, in the gloomy three-storied house 
with the winding stair opposite Smith's 
Wynd. Darnley made a one-day visit of in- 
quiry, but the conjugal bond was tightly 
strained between them, and four months later 
he was murdered, at Bothwell' s instigation 
with small doubt, and with no doubt at all for 
Bothwell ' s benefit. When misfortunes crowded 
upon Mary it is said that she was often heard 
to regret that she had not died during her ill- 
ness at Jedburgh. 

A house in which Burns once visited, another 
where Wordsworth and his sister stayed, and 

47 . 



CHOSEN DAYS IN SCOTLAND 

yet another in which Prince Charlie lodged 
when he brought a part of his Highland army 
through the town in 1745, are among the 
sights of Jedburgh. 



48 



CHAPTER IV 

EDINBURGH 

EDINBURGH is one of the most beautiful 
and fascinating cities of Europe, yet it is 
difficult to account for the completeness 
of its charm. It is not alone because of its 
dominant position on an eminence near the 
sea and encircled by hills, nor of its centuries 
of history woven with thrilling episodes, nor of 
its traditions of wit and learning, nor of its 
numerous educational opportunities whence it 
is called "The Modern Athens." Perhaps 
the underlying element of its attraction is that 
the city, with its associations, is the expres- 
sion of a people of variety, individuality, and 
force. 

"Mine own romantic town" and "Edina, 
Scotia's Darling Seat," terms used by Scott 
and Burns in writing of their beloved city, 
beautifully express the pride and love for Edin- 
burgh which is a part of the Scotsman's very 
being. The reek of smoke from the lofty Old 

49 



CHOSEN DAYS IN SCOTLAND 

Town's welter of chimneys won for it the 
name "Auld Reekie." 

Yet, strangely enough, Edinburgh was not 
only founded and named by an English king, 
but for four centuries it was an English Border 
town. In 1018, after a Scottish victory over 
the English, it was ceded to the northern coun- 
try, but it was not regarded as the capital un- 
til three centuries later. It has had a stormy 
history, and during Scotland's three centuries 
of alliance with France, it was subject to 
French influences which are shown even now 
in its buildings, laws, customs, and language. 

To the stranger who visits Edinburgh to- 
day, the true Edinburgh — the Edinburgh of 
chronicle and romance — is Old Edinburgh. A 
greater contrast than that presented by the 
Old Town's grace and stateliness with the 
pompous dignity of the so-called New Town, 
denounced by Ruskin, it would be difficult to 
imagine. They express the times in which 
they grew — the Old Town, through centuries 
of stress and turmoil, of triumphs and defeats, 
showing the imprint of strong and varied per- 
sonalities; the New Town, laid out according 
to a plan made about 1770, with streets at 
right angles and a sameness of building that 

50 



EDINBURGH 

was a reflection of the prosaic spirit of the 
period. The names of the streets, "George," 
with "Queen" on one side, and "Princes" on 
the other, and "Hanover," "Charlotte," and 
"Frederick," running across, betray the dec- 
orous desire of the citizens duly to compli- 
ment the royal family. 

To picture the Old Town as it was even a 
hundred and fifty years ago, we must think of 
it as standing alone on its lofty ridge — at the 
west end the majestic, castle-crowned rock. 
At the base of the castle-rock was a small lake, 
called the Nor' Loch, and a ravine, now filled 
and converted into the Princes Street Gardens, 
ran along the foot of the ridge. Beyond this, 
where the New Town now lies, the hilly 
ground was covered with broom and heather. 
It is not surprising that, when the North 
Bridge was thrown across the ravine, and the 
new town was planned, migration, once begun, 
went on rapidly, for the old town covered a 
surprisingly small area. It would seem that 
land was dear in those days, for when popula- 
tion pressed, builders forestalled modern 
American customs and built into the air — 
houses of ten and twelve stories, which were 
occupied as flats according to the French 

51 



CHOSEN DAYS IN SCOTLAND 

fashion. Old Edinburgh sloped from the castle 
at one end for about a mile to the Palace of 
Holyrood at the other, and comprised little 
more than the historic old High Street, which 
connects the two, the Cowgate, parallel to the 
High Street, Greyf riars, in whose Churchyard 
the Covenant was signed amid scenes of wild 
and fanatical enthusiasm, hundreds, it is said, 
writing the signature with their blood, and 
the Grassmarket, the place where heretics and 
witches were burned and the scene of many 
executions. 

The Castle, around which grew the town, is 
the natural starting-point of any inspection. 
The rock, like a fortress in itself, has only the 
castle-rock at Stirling to compare with it in 
boldness and dignity. Burns describes it thus: 

' ' There, watching high the least alarms, 

Thy rough, rude fortress gleams afar; 
Like some bold veteran, gray in arms, 

And mark'd with many a seamy scar: 
The ponderous wall and massy bar, 

Grim-rising o'er the rugged rock, 
Have oft withstood assailing war, 

And oft repell'd the invader's shock." 

It is said that in early times there was a 
stronghold here called the "Castrum Puel- 

52 




H 

Hi 

H 

02 
O 
« 

O 
Q 



EDINBURGH 

larum" or Castle of the Maidens, where the 
daughters of the Pictish Kings were educated 
and kep in safety until they were married. 
However this may be, in 626 or thereabout, 
Edwin of Xorthumbria built or rebuilt on this 
rock a castle called Edwin's Burgh, which 
gave its name to the town that grew up about 
it. A large part of the Castle was de- 
stroyed in 1572, but was rebuilt before the end 
of the century. 

At a distance the buildings on the rock seem 
a part of it. On three sides it is precipitous, 
but on the east leading to the entrance is a 
broad esplanade on which the kilted soldiers 
of the Highland regiment stationed at the 
Castle go through the evolutions of their daily 
drill, their tasselled sporrans — the fur pocket 
hanging in front in the Highland costume — 
swinging rhythmically as they march. Uni- 
formed veterans wait on the drawbridge to lead 
visitors through the portcullis- gate, under the 
high, narrow window of the prison where the 
Duke of Argyle awaited execution for his faith- 
fulness to the Stuart cause, up the winding 
way, past the ugly modern barracks which Sir 
Walter Scott said would be honoured by com- 
parison with a cotton-mill, to the rock plat- 

53 



CHOSEN DAYS IN SCOTLAND 

form where stand two of the great treasures 
of the Castle, the ancient cannon called Mons 
Meg, and Saint Margaret's Chapel. This 
tiny Norman church, said to be the oldest in 
Scotland and the smallest in Britain, is indeed 
a relic of the long ago, for it was built in the 
eleventh century, in the time of Malcolm Can- 
more, probably by his wife, the fair Saxon 
Margaret, whose refinement and religious spirit 
were influences for untold good in that semi- 
barbaric age. A touching story is told of 
Queen Margaret's lying ill in the Castle when 
news was brought to her of the death of her 
husband and her eldest son, who were fighting 
the English in Northumbria. The sad tidings 
proved her death-blow. At night the princes, 
her younger sons, tenderly carried their 
mother's body out under cover of darkness to 
escape the cruelty of their uncle, Donald Bane, 
who immediately seized the throne. 

It is one of the incongruities of life to find 
almost in the shadow of the saintly Margaret's 
Chapel, the monster cannon, said to have been 
cast in Galloway in 1476. Over two centuries 
ago, however, it lost its power to destroy, for 
after two hundred years or more of deadly ser- 
vice it burst in the peaceful act of firing a 

54 



EDINBURGH 

royal salute. When I first saw it, many years 
ago, the guide was fond of saying to Ameri- 
cans, "That gun was cast before America was 
discovered! " 

After the palace of Holyrood was built it 
became the favourite residence of the Scottish 
kings, but danger always sent them to the 
safer walls of the Castle. It was the possibili- 
ties of the troublous days through which she 
bravely smiled when they came that made 
Mary, Queen of Scots, seek the shelter of the 
fortress before the birth (in 1566) of her son 
and Darnley's, that James who was VI of 
Scotland and I of England. The tiny birth- 
room remains unchanged, and its inconveni- 
ence reveals to us that in spite of pomp and 
magnificence in some directions, royalty of 
olden time had to endure real privations. The 
following quaint inscription is on the wall of 
the room: 

Lord Jesu Chryst, That crounit was with Thornse, 
Preserve the Birth, quhais Badgie heir is borne, 
And send Hir Sonne successioune, to Reigne still, 
Lang in this Realme, if that it by Thy will. 
Als grant, O Lord, quhat ever of Hir proseed, 
Be to Thy Honer and Prais, sobied. 

19th Junii, 1566." 
55 



CHOSEN DAYS IN SCOTLAND 

The window is shown from which, tradition 
has it, the baby James was lowered in a basket 
to the Grassmarket to be taken to Stirling 
Castle to escape his mother's enemies. 

Near Queen Mary's apartments is the Crown 
Room, where are kept other of the Castle's 
treasures, the Regalia or "Honours of Scot- 
land" — the crown, which was, it is said, first 
used for the coronation of Robert Bruce, the 
sceptre, the sword of state, and the treasur- 
er's mace. During the Commonwealth the 
"Honours" were sent to Dunnottar Castle on 
the east coast for safe-keeping. Before the 
castle fell they were smuggled out by the wife 
of the parish minister and buried under the 
floor of the neighbouring church, where they 
remained till the Restoration. After the Eng- 
lish and Scottish parliaments were united in 
1707 the Regalia were placed in a big oak 
chest and securely locked up in the Crown 
Room. After a time the rumour spread that 
the Regalia had been taken to England, but 
it was not until 1817, through the efforts of 
Scott, that the permission of George IV was 
obtained to investigate the matter. In his 
"Provincial Antiquities" Scott describes the 
entrance of the commissioners, of whom he 

56 



EDINBURGH 

was one, to the Crown Room and their forcing 
open the chest with a growing feeling of ap- 
prehension lest the "Honours" should not be 
there. He writes: 

"The joy was, therefore, extreme when, the ponder- 
ous lid of the chest being forced open, at the expense 
of some time and labour, the Regalia were discovered 
lying at the bottom covered with linen cloths, exactly 
as they had been left in the year 1707. 

"... The reliques were passed from hand to 
hand, and greeted with the affectionate reverence which 
emblems so venerable, restored to public view after 
the slumber of more than a hundred years, were so 
peculiarly calculated to excite. ' ' 

Across the square is the Banqueting Hall in 
which have taken place many events more ex- 
citing than feasts. One of the most tragic was 
the "Black Dinner," fatal to the two young 
Douglases, who, after the customary death 
token, a black bull's head, had been placed be- 
fore them, were, notwithstanding the tears 
and pleadings of the ten year old king, James 
II, taken out into the courtyard and mur- 
dered. 

The hall was restored by James IV at the 
time of his marriage with Margaret of Eng- 

57 



CHOSEN DAYS IN SCOTLAND 

land. It has been used as the meeting-place 
of the Scottish Parliament. 

Leading from the Castle is the storied High 
Street with its four sections — Castle Hill, the 
Lawnmarket, High Street, and the Canon- 
gate — each thronged with memories of men 
and women of long ago. It is a wonderful old 
thoroughfare with its lofty " lands, " which 
used to tower above both sides of the causeway. 
Now many of them have been torn down to 
make way for modern improvements. Nobility 
and even royalty had dwellings on the High 
Street, and it has been the scene of pageants, 
riots, murders, witch-burnings, duels, execu- 
tions, and public rejoicings. Every stone has 
its story, and its uneven pavement has been 
trodden not only by men and women famous 
in Scottish history, but also by all the persons 
of note who have ever visited Scotland. 

Many brilliant figures have made the street 
their own. When fifteen year old Margaret 
Tudor, guarded by a great retinue of nobles, 
came to Scotland to be married to James IV, 
she alighted from her chariot, mounted on a 
palfrey behind her prospective husband, and 
rode through the High Street to Holyrood. 
The houses were hung with tapestry, a band 

58 



EDINBURGH 

played, bells were rung, and there was sport 
and merry-making. There was a far different 
sound when the walls echoed to the tramp of 
the troops of the Earl of Hertford, who, at the 
command of Henry VIII, made one of his rav- 
aging expeditions into Scotland. 

It was through the High Street, once more 
festively decorated, that Queen Mary rode, ac- 
companied by French nobles and attendants, 
on her return from France to her own king- 
dom. Notwithstanding the warnings and 
dire predictions of John Knox the majority of 
the people were overjoyed to welcome back 
their young sovereign. 

It was up that part of the High Street called 
the Canongate and under the balcony of Moray 
House where Argyle stood in the midst of his 
son's wedding-party that the great Montrose 
went to his death in the Grassmarket. That 
the Stuart leader met his doom bravely we 
can well believe on looking at the fearless, no- 
ble face depicted in his portrait. The last 
moments of his life were set in a vivid picture — 
in the foreground the dense throng in the 
Grassmarket, on the high scaffold above the 
crowding heads the dignified figure in scarlet. 

Yet another and more cheerful scene in the 

59 



CHOSEN DAYS IN SCOTLAND 

old causeway is the coming of Prince Charles 
Edward Stuart, the " Young Pretender," to 
the palace of his ancestors. The enthusiasm 
of the Scots always rose to its highest point 
when a member of the house of Stuart appeared 
among them, and on the day when, in the 
presence of Prince Charles, his father was pro- 
claimed James Vffi, King of Great Britain 
and Ireland, the people's long pent-up adora- 
tion for the Stuart line flowed forth in a tor- 
rent that swept everything before it. At the 
head of a triumphal procession Prince Charles 
entered Holyrood, the idol of Jacobite worship. 
The ball that was given that night in the old 
palace was probably the most brilliant affair 
that ever took place in Edinburgh. 

These are a few of the many stirring hap- 
penings which have taken place in the populous 
street. Every stone of it has more than once 
been drenched with blood, for on the whole 
the sad and tragic occurrences which have gone 
toward the making of Edinburgh's history 
have been more numerous than the joyful 
events. 

The explorer of old Edinburgh will not fail 
to discover, in spite of the tenement-house 
sights and smells that now fill them, the at- 

60 



EDINBURGH 

tractions of the wynds and closes — alleys 
and courts — which served the towering 
1 ' lands. " They are no more crowded now, in 
the days of their social decline, than when 
women of rank and men of fashion, doctors of 
law and of medicine, clergymen and authors 
pressed their way over the steep and narrow 
outside stairs upon which the apartments 
opened. To-day the residents are more homo- 
geneous than they were a century and a half 
ago, for at that time "men of small repute" 
dwelt in the same house with the aristocracy 
and gentry, street venders and caddies, per- 
haps, in the lower part, convenient to their 
work, and small clerks or milliners whose sed- 
entary life made them crave exercise, at the 
top of the many flights that led to the garrets. 
With the conveniences of modern apartment 
houses in mind it is hard to realize the dis- 
comforts of an abode where every drop of water 
had to be carried, and servants and errand- 
boys, the greengrocer and the fishmonger 
passed on the same stair gentlemen in court 
dress and ladies with spreading farthingales. 
The duties of the street-cleaning department 
were of the simplest, consisting merely in the 
removal of the more substantial part of the 

61 



CHOSEN DAYS IN SCOTLAND 

refuse that was thrown from the windows at 
ten o'clock every night. Unlucky the passer- 
by who did not heed the cry "Gardy loo" 
("Gardez l'eau") and scamper away from the 
impending shower. 

To our unaccustomed eyes the crowded 
streets would have seemed the production of a 
clever manager of a "costume play." Minis- 
ters in the dress of their office, advocates be- 
wigged and begowned, merchants soberly clad, 
ladies with hoops and tartan scarves, with 
high heels and patches and provoking masks 
crowded the narrow ways. Horse-drawn ve- 
hicles, for whose convenient use there was 
small space, were replaced by sedan-chairs 
carried by stout Highlanders. It was possible 
for these chairs to enter the closes, else the 
beauty on her way to a court ball at Holyrood 
would have had to risk damage to her beauti- 
ful frock by walking to the corner. 

The wynds and closes, no fit ground for 
pageantry, are full of associations better suited 
to their limited area. Scott was born in the 
College Wynd, not far from the church of St. 
Giles; in Craig's Close the early editions of 
the Waverley Novels were printed, and 
Writer's Close is mentioned in "Guy Manner- 

62 



EDINBURGH 

ing. ' ' For the modest sum of eighteenpence 
a week Robert Burns shared a room in Baxter's 
Close, while his club, the Crochallan, met in 
Anchor Close. "Covenanters' Close" gives 
promise of an historical connection which is 
confirmed when it is learned that in one of its 
houses the Covenant sworn against King 
Charles in Greyfriars Churchyard in 1638 was 
renewed five years later. The renewal was 
brought about through the influence of Sir 
Henry Vane, previously governor of the Massa- 
chusetts Bay Province. "Dunbar Close' ' sug- 
gests another momentous event of Scottish 
history, for here some of Cromwell's soldiers 
swaggered piously after they had gained over 
Prince Charles, afterward Charles II, the vic- 
tory at Dunbar (1650) which threw Edinburgh 
into their hands. 

Not all the sentiment is centred in the 
High Street nor all the sense in the wynds. 
They invade each other's domain, for in Post 
Office Close lived Countess Susan of the house 
of Eglinton, as bonnie as Prince Charlie whom 
she fascinated; while the entire length of the 
High Street stirs serious recollections. 

Just beyond the Lawnmarket, where cloth 
used to be sold and where once stood the 

63 



CHOSEN DAYS IN SCOTLAND 

dwelling of Mary of Guise, mother of Mary, 
Queen of Scots, is the open space of St. Giles's 
Cathedral. Near the church the rough outline 
of a heart marks in the pavement the site of 
the Old Tolbooth, where the Scottish Parlia- 
ment used to meet until the Parliament House 
was built, when the Tolbooth became a prison. 
Scott describes it in "The Heart of Midlo- 
thian. ' ' The Parliament House and Parlia- 
ment Square occupy what was once the church- 
yard of St. Giles's, and near the church in 
Parliament Square we shall find the inscrip- 
tion, "I. K. 1572, " upon the small stone in the 
pavement which is said to mark the grave of 
John Knox. 

In olden days booths were attached to St. 
Giles's on all sides and houses were crowded 
close to it. Now it stands alone, and its beau- 
tiful Gothic crown-spire is visible from almost 
all parts of the city. It was the parish church 
of Edinburgh, built as the shrine of the arm 
of St. Giles, the patron saint of the city. At 
the time of the Reformation the church was 
despoiled, "purified, "and otherwise disfigured, 
its images broken, and the interior divided in- 
to four parts where services were held. It was 
here that John Knox preached three times 

64 



EDINBURGH 

every week day and twice on Sunday; here, 
before the Lords of the Congregation, he 
thundered invectives against the beautiful 
young Queen Mary; and here he delivered the 
funeral sermon over the murdered regent 
Moray, whose tomb is in the church. The 
" great Marquis of Montrose" is also buried 
here, not far from his enemy the "great 
Argyle. " St. Gaudens's beautiful bronze 
memorial of Robert Louis Stevenson, the life- 
size figure of the poet in relief, is on the wall 
of one of the chapels. It was in St. Giles's, 
which was made a Cathedral in the time of 
Charles I, that Dean Hanna of Edinburgh 
tried to introduce Laud's Liturgy. As Scott 
describes it: 

' ' The rash and fatal experiment was made 23d July, 
1637, in the High Church of St. Giles, Edinburgh, 
where the dean of the city prepared to read the new 
service before a numerous concourse of persons, none 
of whom seems to have been favourably disposed to its 
reception. As the reader of the prayers announced 
the Collect for the day, an old woman, named Jenny 
Geddes, who kept a green-stall in the High Street 
. . . flung at the dean's head the stool upon which 
she had been sitting, and a wild tumult instantly 
commenced. " ' 

65 



CHOSEN DAYS IN SCOTLAND 

Within the last thirty years the partitions 
have been removed and the church has been 
restored to somewhat of its pre-Reformation 
aspect. 

Since the Union (in 1707) the Parliament 
House has been used for the Supreme Court, 
and the advocates in wig and gown prom- 
enading back and forth in the great hall 
adorned with statues and portraits of famous 
Scottish lawyers look as if they had just 
stepped down from the paintings on the walls. 
Their costumes give but a faint suggestion, 
however, of the splendour that accompanied the 
ceremony of the "Riding" in the days when 
Scotland had a Parliament of its own. Then 
the Members, both nobles and burgesses, with 
attendants, rode as escort to the "Honours" 
through ranks of soldiers from Holyrood to 
the Parliament House, the brilliant liveries of 
the servants and the gorgeous caparisons of the 
horses glittering against the tapestries that 
hung from the houses and the soberer garbs of 
the spectators who crowded the stairs and win- 
dows. The Commissioner brought up the rear 
of the procession. 

Not far from the Parliament House is the 
site of Dun Edin's cross, the old Mercat Croce 

66 



EDINBURGH 

or Market Cross, at which the Scottish heralds 
and pursuivants proclaimed the royal edicts, a 
form which they follow on state occasions even 
at the present time. This cross which was 
almost demolished, was restored by Mr. Glad- 
stone. 

A little farther down the street a fine old 
house is pointed out as the one occupied by 
John Knox — the "manse," where he lived for 
the last thirteen years of his life. It is an in- 
teresting example of the architecture of that 
date. Below Knox's house is the Netherbow, 
where in olden days stood the principal gate of 
the city. 

From this point to Holyrood the street is 
called the Canongate. The canons of the 
Abbey of Holyrood were granted the right to 
found a borough here, and through it was the 
chief approach from the Abbey to the city. 
If a man in debt claimed sanctuary within the 
Abbey precincts, no creditor could seize him. 
The borough had its own Tolbooth, the build- 
ing of 1591 with its outstanding clock, still 
frowning in picturesque sternness. 

The Canongate leads into the square in front 
of the Palace of Holyrood. Beyond it rises 
to an altitude of over 800 feet the noble hill 

67 



CHOSEN DAYS IN SCOTLAND 

called Arthur's Seat, shaped like a couching 
lion. Near by is King's Park. The Palace 
hoards a wealth of associations from the day 
when Queen Mary, young and widowed, en- 
tered it with her brilliant escort on her return 
from France, to the time, 1745, when Charles 
Edward, the Young Pretender, marched at the 
head of a splendid throng to take possession of 
his ancestral home. 

Holyrood was first an Abbey, one of those 
many monasteries founded and enriched by 
King David I. The story goes that while 
King David was hunting in this neighbour- 
hood, he was attacked and about to be killed by 
an infuriated stag, which fled at the sudden ap- 
pearance of a dazzling cross. In gratitude for 
his deliverance David founded the Abbey and 
dedicated it to the Holy Rood. The Abbey was 
destroyed and rebuilt several times, but there 
is now left only a little of the Royal Chapel. 
That fragment is very beautiful in the Early 
English style. 

The monks were hospitable and received 
their sovereigns in the Abbey as guests, but 
at last, at a time not definitely known, some 
King, probably James IV, wearied of the 
sternness of the Castle and made a greater pro- 

68 



EDINBURGH 

vision for the amenities of court life by build- 
ing Holyrood Palace as an addition to the 
Abbey. To-day but a small portion is shown 
to the public. Queen Mary's apartments con- 
sist of the audience-chamber, where probably 
her stormy conversations with John Knox took 
place, her bed-chamber, and, opening from it, 
a dressing-room on one side and a small sup- 
ping-room on the other. It was in this latter 
room that the Queen was taking supper with 
her ladies-in-waiting and her foreign secretary, 
David Riccio, when the latter was stabbed in 
her presence by a group of lords led by Darn- 
ley. They entered the room by a private stair, 
and seizing Riccio, took him out to the top of 
the main staircase, where they finished the 
murder by inflicting fifty-six wounds. The 
blood-stain never has been removed from the 
floor. Scott made it the basis of the story 
which introduces "The Chronicles of the 
Canongate. ' ' 

This tragedy stands in the foreground of 
Holyrood 's story as of Mary's, but the viva- 
cious queen had had happy days in the palace. 
She was fond of plays and music and dancing 
and was the leader in gaieties that called forth 
the censure of Knox, who never failed to seize 

69 



CHOSEN DAYS IN SCOTLAND 

every opportunity, in public and in private, 
to load his sovereign with scorn for her way of 
Ufe and reproaches for her continuance in the 
Roman faith. It would seem that even the 
Reformers would not have thought frivolous 
her reading of Livy, her embroidering of tap- 
estry, her delight in chess, or her fondness for 
the out-of-door sports of archery and hawking. 
It is strange that the wonderful charm of 
Mary's personality so clings to every spot that 
knew her. Here at Holyrood, as elsewhere, 
other women lived and loved and died — and 
were forgotten; but Mary's joys and impru- 
dences and quarrels and tragedies cast into the 
realm of the unconsidered events of far more 
real importance. It is so throughout the city, 
and interest attaches to spots not intimately 
associated with her. Even the Kirk-o' -Field, 
where the University now stands, brings up 
memories of the murder of Darnley, because 
Darnley was Mary's husband, not because of 
any regret that could be felt for the taking off 
of her dissolute young consort. 

Though without the stirring recollections of 
the Old Town, the New Town has certain at- 
tractions of its own. In crossing the Mound 
that divides the Princes Street Gardens two 

70 



EDINBURGH 

classical looking buildings are passed, one the 
National Gallery, the other the Royal Institu- 
tion, which contains an antiquarian museum 
and a sculpture gallery. Princes Street has 
somewhat the aspect of a terrace overlooking 
the Gardens, and from it is a magnificent view 
of the Old Town and Castle. 

"Above the Crags that fade and gloom, 
Starts the bare knee of Arthur's Seat; 
Ridged high against the evening bloom, 
The Old Town rises, street on street, 
With lamps bejewelled; straight ahead, 
Like rampired walls the houses lean, 
All spired and domed and turreted, 
Sheer to the valley's darkling green; 
While heaped against the western grey, 
The Castle, menacing and severe, 
Juts gaunt into the dying day; 
And in the silver dusk you hear, 
Reverberated from crag and scar, 
Bold bugles blowing points of war." 1 

Edinburgh has many fine statues and monu- 
ments. The best known is on the garden side 
of Princes Street — the beautiful Scott Monu- 
ment, a graceful and airy structure in the form 
of a Gothic spire rising to a height of two hun- 

1 W. E. Henley, " From a Window in Princes Street." 

71 



CHOSEN DAYS IN SCOTLAND 

dred feet. It is of the Early English style of 
architecture, the lower arches being suggestive 
of those of Melrose Abbey. In the niches are 
statuettes representing characters from Sir 
Walter's works, and under the canopy is a 
marble statue of the great Romancer with his 
favourite dog, Maida, at his feet. 

East of the New Town is Calton Hill, on 
which the National Monument stands out con- 
spicuously. The monument, which was in- 
tended to be a reproduction of the Parthenon, 
is little more than a row of great columns. 
The enterprise was planned on such a gigantic 
scale that the funds gave out long before the 
building was half completed. Some of the 
other erections on the hill are the huge and 
unattractive Nelson Monument, the Burns 
Monument, whose small temple houses a 
museum, the tower which marks the grave of 
David Hume, the philosopher, and the Lincoln 
Monument raised in honour of the Scottish- 
American soldiers who fought and fell in our 
own Civil War. The view from Calton Hill 
well repays any one making the ascent. Not 
only does the beautiful city with the length of 
Princes Street lie before him, the New Town 
at his right and the Gardens and Old Town 

72 



EDINBURGH 

on the left, but beyond the city rise the Braid 
and Pentland Hills, and, again, Arthur's Seat 
and the Salisbury Crags, a favourite walk of 
Sir Walter Scott's. The Firth of Forth swims 
below, and it is said that on a very clear day 
Ben Lomond can be seen. Of the appearance 
of Edinburgh from Blackford Hill, Scott gives 
a description in the fourth canto of "Mar- 
mion: " 

"Still on the spot Lord Marmion stay'd, 
For fairer scene he ne'er surveyed . . . 

The wandering eye could o'er it go, 

And mark the distant city glow 
With gloomy splendour red; 

For on the smoke-wreaths, huge and slow, 

That round her sable turrets flow, 
The morning beams were shed, 

And tinged them with a lustre proud 

Like that which streaks a thunder-cloud. 
Such dusky grandeur clothed the height 
Where the huge Castle holds its state, 

And all the steep slope down, 
Whose ridgy back heaves to the sky, 
Piled deep and massy, close and high, 

Mine own romantic town!" 



73 



CHAPTER V 

LITERARY ASSOCIATIONS OF EDINBURGH 

THE earliest Scottish literature came from 
the lips of minstrels and from the pens 
of monks. It was associated with the 
castles of the nobles to which the bards were 
attached as retainers or before whose fires they 
sat as wanderers, entertaining that they might 
be entertained; and it was inspired by the 
thought-provoking seclusion of the religious 
houses. Adamnan of Iona (690), who wrote 
the life of Columba, is looked upon as the first 
Scottish author, and in the next eight centu- 
ries, when the claymore was mightier than 
the stylus, hardly as many writers left mat- 
ter worth recording. Of these, Thomas the 
Rhymer and Michael Scot and King James I 
expressed themselves in the more artistic lit- 
erary forms, while Barbour, Archdeacon of 
Aberdeen, "Blind Harry," and John of For- 
den, were stirred by a desire to tell the glories 
of Bruce, of Wallace, and of Scotland's story 
in general. 

74 



LITERARY ASSOCIATIONS OF EDINBURGH 

Of Edinburgh in connection with any of 
these names history says not a word, though 
it is safe to assume that James did not leave 
the chief city in his domain unvisited, even if 
he preferred, to his final murderous undoing, 
the ' 'fair city' ' of Perth. With William Dun- 
bar, Scotland's laureate of the end of the fif- 
teenth century, comes a scrap of knowledge 
that shows that the production of books was 
no longer confined to the copyists of the Ab- 
beys. The earliest existing example of Scot- 
tish printing is found in a volume of Dunbar's 
poems which, in 1508, fell from the Edin- 
burgh press of Chepman and Myllar, who, in 
the following year, printed a breviary for the 
church at Aberdeen. Chepman has been 
called the * ' Scottish Caxton. ' ' He built the 
aisle now used as the baptistry of St. Giles's 
Church. Toward the end of this century 
(1574) Bassandyne, whose establishment was 
almost opposite Knox's house on the High 
Street, printed the poems of Sir David Lind- 
say, who figures by name in "Marmion. " 

When Edinburgh became more and more 
continuously the seat of the Court, when cov- 
enanting churches drew great preachers to the 
city and religious struggle gave them subject- 

75 



CHOSEN DAYS IN SCOTLAND 

matter, and, finally, when to the universities 
of St. Andrews, Glasgow, and Aberdeen was 
added, in James VI 's youth, the University of 
Edinburgh, the castle-crowned city came to be 
the Mecca of all who felt the divine fire. In- 
deed, for the last four centuries, there is hardly 
a name on North Britain's literary honour roll 
that has not some connection with the town. 
Poets and dramatists were drawn to win the 
court's favour; theologians went where worthy 
opponents awaited them, the bookish studied 
at the University, while the unlisted hap- 
pened to be born or to die in the shadow of 
the castle rock, or came to live in the city 
whose intellectual activity had made its ap- 
peal to them. 

In at least one instance the incentive to 
effort was neither that of the court nor of the 
church, nor of the University. There were 
other spirits abroad in 1568 when the plague 
visited Edinburgh. One George Bannatyne, 
afraid to go out of his house for fear of taking 
the disease, amused himself during his en- 
forced retirement by making a most valuable 
collection of early Scottish verse. In the same 
century Robert Semple described in a long 
poem "The Sege of the Castell of Edinburgh. ' 

76 



LITERARY ASSOCIATIONS OF EDINBURGH 

Hardly less imaginative in an entirely differ- 
ent line were the controversialists bred by the 
Reformation, among whom stand forth John 
Knox, and Robert Rollock, the first principal 
of the University. From 1559 to 1572 Knox 
is said to have lived in the High Street manse 
from whose window he preached, and he left 
it but for his grave in St. Giles's churchyard. 
His statue stands in the courtyard of the Free 
Church College. The University was built on 
the site of the Church of St. Mary in the Fields, 
near which Darnley was murdered. One of 
the buildings pulled down to accommodate the 
northern hall was the house in the College 
Wynd in which Scott was born. 

Dipping into theology, "Daemonologie,' : 
Biblical translation, and verse, James VI, the 
hopelessly uninteresting son of a "tempera- 
mental" mother, must be classed as a writer 
among the writers whom he drew around him. 
Toward the end of the sixteenth century there 
died at Edinburgh George Buchanan, who was 
James's tutor as he had been Queen Mary's. 
Buchanan was a classical scholar whose trans- 
lations showed taste, and he was an historian 
of intelligence. His grave is in Greyfriars 
Churchyard. In the last decade of the cen- 

77 



CHOSEN DAYS IN SCOTLAND 

tury, Waldegrave established a print shop in 
Edinburgh, an edition of Montgomerie's poem, 
"Cherrie and the Slae," being one of his pro- 
ductions. 

Sir James Melville's story is not without its 
romance. Sir James had been attached to 
Queen Mary both in France and in Scotland, 
and he had every opportunity for gathering 
spicy material for a description of her court, 
Elizabeth's, and James's. His manuscript lay 
for many years concealed in Edinburgh Castle. 
Even after its discovery in 1660 it was not 
published until over twenty years more had 
been added to men's forgetfulness. 

Though born and resident all his life at 
Hawthornden, the poet Drummond was near 
enough to the city to enter into its pleasures 
and to take part in its intellectual life. He 
bequeathed his library to the University. In 
1618, Ben Jonson, who admired the flowing 
metres of the Scottish poet, walked from Lon- 
don to Hawthornden to make the acquaintance 
of the northern bard. The Scots were appre- 
ciative of the honour paid by the English dra- 
matist, and the magistrates of Edinburgh gave 
him the freedom of the city, while the civic 
authorities entertained him at dinner. 

78 



LITERARY ASSOCIATIONS OF EDINBURGH 

In the seventeenth century a life in the 
church did not by any means imply a calm 
career, and so John Spottiswoode found it. 
He was Archbishop of Glasgow, then of St. 
Andrews, and, later, was Lord Chancellor of 
Scotland. By tongue and pen he advocated 
the establishment of the Episcopacy in Scot- 
land, and he was present in St. Giles's when 
the Dean of Edinburgh, Hanna, read from 
the new service book, to the provocation of 
Jenny Geddes. Her famous stool is to be seen 
in the Museum of Antiquities. 

David Calderwood (1575-1650), though a 
minister of the Kirk, did not confine his pen 
to theology, but left for our entertainment 
some accounts of the doings of the day, valu- 
able as history and amusing as literature. 
He gives a long description of the entrance 
among his new subjects of James VI 's queen, 
Anne of Denmark. 

"She came," he begins, "by the south side of the 
town, by the West Port, in a coache. A young boy 
descending in a globe, which opened, delivered certane 
keyes, with a Bible and a Psalme Booke." 

The " West Port" was a gateway in the city 
wall and was connected with the High Street 

79 



CHOSEN DAYS IN SCOTLAND 

by a narrow lane called the West Bow, now 
Victoria Street. 

Robert Louis Stevenson says that his father 
was often told as a child "how the devil's 
coach, drawn by six coal-black horses with 
fiery eyes, would drive at night into the West 
Bow, and belated people might see the dead 
Major [Weir, a supposed wizard, called 
"Angelical Thomas"] through the glasses." 
In the "Heart of Midlothian" the murderers 
of Captain Porteous rush their victim down 
the West Bow to the Grassmarket, the scene 
of as many executions in fact as in fiction. 
That of the Marquis of Montrose (1612-1650) 
has been mentioned previously. He was a 
man notable in so many ways that it is not 
surprising to find that he had a forceful and 
dignified literary expression. His "Lines 
Written After Sentence of Death" are confi- 
dent in form as in content. 

'Let them bestow on every airt a limb 
Then open all my veins, that I may swim 
To Thee, my Maker in that crimson lake; 
Then place my parboiled head upon a stake, 
Scatter my ashes, strew them in the air; 
Lord! since Thou know'st where all those atoms are, 
I'm hopeful Thou 'It recover once my dust, 
And confident Thou' It raise me with the just!" 

80 



LITERARY ASSOCIATIONS OF EDINBURGH 

The contrasts of the Scottish character, 
* * dour' ' yet passionate, practical yet emotional, 
are shown no better in any historical character 
on record, than in that of Simion Grahame, 
the son of an Edinburgh burgess. At about 
this period Grahame who loved the quiet of 
study and the excitement of travel with equal 
fervour, who led an abandoned life and cor- 
rected it by the severities of the Franciscan 
order which he joined, wrote an " Anatomie of 
Humours. ** It is said that this book gave Bur- 
ton a strong impetus toward his " Anatomy of 
Melancholy." 

To the lighter spirits who must have found 
almost insupportable the dulness of the Scot- 
tish court, the Sempills, Robert and Francis, 
father and son, undoubtedly were a blessing. 
Robert, who was scornfully called a " dancer" 
by Knox, enlivened James VI by his humor- 
ous verse, which is thought to have afforded 
inspiration to Allan Ramsay, and, later, to 
Burns. Francis appears to have been as lack- 
ing in financial sense as he was rich in other 
kinds. Because of his indebtedness he was at 
one time forced to take sanctuary in the Ab- 
bey courthouse on the south side of the Canon- 
gate. That he took his troubles not so seri- 

81 



CHOSEN DAYS IN SCOTLAND 



> » 



ously, but that he was willing to make " copy 
of them is shown by his verses on "The Ban- 
ishment of Poverty," from which are taken 
the following "local color" stanzas: 

"We held the Lang-gate to Leith Wynd, 1 
Where poorest purses use to be; 
And in the Calton lodged syne, 
Fit quarters for such company. 

"Yet I the High-town fain would see, 
But my comrade did me discharge; 
He willed me Blackburn's ale to prie 
And muff my beard that was right large. 

1 ' The morn I ventured up the Wynd, 
And slink in at the Netherbow, 
Thinking that troker for to tyne, 

Who does me damage what he dow. ' ' 

Francis SempiU's "Maggie Lauder" still is 
sung and quoted. 

Names ' of writers having some Edinburgh 
connection begin to be frequent during the 
seventeenth century, but none of them stand 
out alluringly to other than the student. 
George Gillespie was settled over theGreyfriars 
Church, called by Scott the "Westminster 
Abbey of Scotland. ' ' Its gardens Queen Mary 

1 Now Princes Street. 

82 




< 
« 

W 

« 

M 
« 
ft 

w 
« 



LITERARY ASSOCIATIONS OF EDINBURGH 

had added to increase the size of the church- 
yard already full of those marvellously lugu- 
brious memorials among which the Reformers 
swore to the Covenant, and John Knox hid 
during one of the lively episodes of the inter- 
church struggle. Many long years later, 
Walter Scott met the first lady of his love in 
Greyfriars Churchyard, and sheltered her 
under his umbrella during a shower. John 
Ogilby, who achieved the distinction of writing 
verses so bad that they were sneered at by 
Dryden and Pope, was born near the city. 
Patrick Abercrombie, an Edinburgh royal 
physician, published two Anti-Union argu- 
ments, one of them in reply to Daniel Defoe. 
Thomas Ruddiman, though of many occupa- 
tions, is best known as Librarian of the Advo- 
cates' Library, which is to-day the largest 
library in Scotland. It is in the Parliament 
House and has a special interest for Scott 
enthusiasts because the manuscript of ' ' Waver- 
ley" is preserved there. It is an appropriate 
place for it, for within this building, in his 
seat still shown within the bar, the "Wizard 
of the North" wrote much of the novel, his 
mind roaming fast and free with his hero while 
the "law's delays" dragged slowly on about 

83 



CHOSEN DAYS IN SCOTLAND 

him. Robert Blair, an Edinburgh University 
graduate, was the author of "The Grave, ' : 
whose chief claim to remembrance is that 
William Blake made some illustrations for it. 

Contemporary with Blair was the poet 
whose revival of the Scottish vernacular and 
whose geniality of spirit endeared him to his 
time, made him known in ours, and, according 
to some authorities, influenced the literature 
of all Europe. Allan Ramsay's "Gentle 
Shepherd" introduced into Scottish letters a 
pastoral coolness not unpleasing to the advo- 
cates as to the opponents of hell fire, and he 
became one of the most popular men of his 
day. Hamilton of Gilbertfield addressed him 
as: 

"O fam'd and celebrated Allan! 
Renowned Ramsay ! Canty Callan ! 
There's nowther Highland-man nor Lawlan 

In poetrie, 
But may as soon ding down Tantallan 
As match wi' thee. " 

Though of good family, Ramsay began his ca- 
reer as a wig-maker, but his proclivities soon 
showed themselves in the establishment of a 
book shop which also housed the first circula- 
ting library in the kingdom — a horror to the 

84 



LITERARY ASSOCIATIONS OF EDINBURGH 

ultra-pious. It was at 153 High Street, near 
the Tron Church, and became a convenient 
resort for the literary folk of the town. His 
second shop was in the Luckenbooths, built 
against St. Giles's. Ramsay is described as a 
merry, self-satisfied little man. His house, 
Ramsay Lodge, on Castle Hill, is now used 
as a University Settlement. In West Princes 
Street Gardens, is a statue erected in the po- 
et's honour, and he is buried in Greyfriars 
Churchyard. 

One of Ramsay's activities was the publica- 
tion of the "Tea Table Miscellany," and his 
helper in the undertaking, Robert Crawford, 
the son of an Edinburgh merchant, is best 
known by his often-quoted verses, "The Bush 
Aboon Traquair. " Verse, indeed, seems to 
have been the expression of the mid-eighteenth 
century as a more serious manner had repre- 
sented the more serious thought of the previous 
hundred years. There is nothing markedly 
noteworthy, however. Alexander Robertson, 
of Strowan, published in Edinburgh a volume 
of vigorous though unlovely poems; Jean El- 
liot wrote the "Flowers of the Forest, ' ' quoted 
in part in the description of Flodden in an- 
other chapter; Alicia Cockburn penned some 

85 



CHOSEN DAYS IN SCOTLAND 

delicate lines bearing the same title, bewailing 
the bankruptcy of some of her friends, her sym- 
pathy with their losses reading with such digni- 
fied obscurity that it was long supposed that her 
subject, too, was the battle of Flodden. Hec- 
tor MacNeill left a song that will recall Burns 's 
more varied and musical but not more tender, 
6 ' O, wert thou in the cauld blast. ' ' MacNeill' s 
lines run: 

"Come under my plaidie, the night's gaun to fa' ; 

Come in frae the cauld blast, the drift and the snaw, 
Come under my plaidie and sit doun beside me; 

There's room in't, dear lassie, believe me, for twa. 
Come under my plaidie, and sit doun beside me, 

I'll hap ye frae every cauld blast that can blaw; 
Oh ! come under my plaidie, and sit doun beside me ; 

There's room in't, dear lassie, believe me, for twa." 

A more ambitious poetic effort was "The 
Seasons, ' ' whose author, James Thomson, was 
educated in Edinburgh and there studied for 
the church before he decided that England 
was a more profitable field for men of his ilk. 
So thought Smollett, not long after, when he 
left his home in St. John Street, Canongate, 
to ride to London on horseback with the man- 
uscript of a tragedy in his saddlebags and the 
potentialities of "Roderick Random" in his 

86 



LITERARY ASSOCIATIONS OF EDINBURGH 

head. Gay, author of the "Beggars' Opera,' 
was of just the contrary opinion, for he came 
from London and the court to amuse and be 
patronized by the Duke and Duchess of 
Queensberry in their Edinburgh mansion in 
the Canongate, just as Prior, a century before, 
had flattered, to his own advantage, a previous 
Duchess, the wife of the third Duke, the 
"Kitty, beautiful and young, and wild as colt 
untam ' d" of " The Female Phaeton. ' ' Queens- 
berry House is now used as a House of Refuge. 

Oliver Goldsmith studied medicine in Edin- 
burgh from 1752-1754, and left on record his 
opinion of the dulness of a fashionable dance 
at which he was present. 

In Cap-and-Feather Close was born (in 1750) 
Robert Fergusson, the jaunty name of his 
birth-street starting him off, as it were, on a 
career of light living that brought him to his 
death before he was twenty-five. Young as 
he was, he left his mark upon the poetry of 
Scotland, both as the author of naturalistic, 
humorous verse, and as the inspiring source to 
whom Burns made cordial acknowledgment. 
Fergusson' s lyrics describe the happenings of a 
none too regular life, with detail of place and 
circumstance easily recognisable by Edin- 

87 



CHOSEN DAYS IN SCOTLAND 

burghers. He wrote an ode to a butterfly 
that he saw near the Town Cross; he men- 
tioned streets by name, and, by contrast, he 
loved the country, as is shown in his 

VERSES WRITTEN AT THE HERMITAGE OF 
BRAID, NEAR EDINBURGH 

' ' Would you relish a rural retreat, 

Or the pleasures the groves can inspire, 
The city's allurements forget, 

To this spot of enchantment retire, 

1 ' Where a valley and crystalline brook, 
Whose current glides sweetly along, 
Give Nature a fanciful look, 

The beautiful woodlands among. 



"Oft let me contemplative dwell 

On a scene where such beauties appear 
I could live in a cot or a cell, 
And never think solitude near. 

The following " Lines" express Burns's grief 
over Fergusson's death: 

' ' Ill-fated genius ! Heaven- taught Fergusson ! 

What heart that feels and will not yield a tear, 
To think life's sun did set ere well begun 
To shed its influence on thy bright career? 
88 



LITERARY ASSOCIATIONS OF EDINBURGH 

Oh, why should truest worth and genius pine 
Beneath the iron grasp of Want and Woe, 

While titled knaves and idiot greatness shine 
In all the splendour Fortune can bestow ! ' ' 

A similar thought is expressed in the 

VERSES 

WRITTEN UNDER THE PORTRAIT OF FERGUSSON, THE POET, IN 
A COPY OF THAT AUTHOR 's WORKS, PRESENTED TO A YOUNG 
LADY IN EDINBURGH, MARCH 17, 1787- 

"Curse on ungrateful man, that can be pleased, 
And yet can starve the author of the pleasure ! 
O thou, my elder brother in misfortune, 
By far my elder brother in the Muses, 
With tears I pity thy unhappy fate ! 
Why is the bard unpitied by the world, 
Yet has so keen a relish of its pleasures?" 

Burns's recognition of his indebtedness to the 
youth so little older than himself, took visible 
form in the stone which he erected to his 
memory in the Canongate Churchyard. The 
inscription reads: 

"No sculptured marble here, nor pompous lay, 
No storied urn nor animated bust — 
This simple stone directs pale Scotia's way 
To pour her sorrows o'er her Poet's dust. " 

In the literary history of many places and 

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CHOSEN DAYS IN SCOTLAND 

periods, it has happened that the life activities 
of the country and its people have found ex- 
pression through an unusual number of con- 
temporaneous writers in different fields. So 
it was in Elizabeth's day and so it was in 
Anne's. Our own country had a like experi- 
ence when the New England authors wrote 
verse and essays whose quality has not since 
been touched in America. A similar concen- 
tration is to be found in Edinburgh during the 
lifetime of Scott. 

It was a dozen years after Fergusson's death, 
and when Scott was a lad of fifteen, that Burns 
entered upon his Edinburgh career. The first 
(Kilmarnock) edition of his poems had won 
for him sufficient success to induce him to give 
over a proposed trip to Jamaica, and instead 
he came to a knowledge of Edinburgh life in 
variety seldom achieved by one person. Dur- 
ing his first year in the city, he shared a bed 
and room in Baxter's Close with a former 
country friend, John Richmond, through 
whom he made the acquaintance of many plain 
folk; while through the medium of a laird, 
proud of Ayrshire's prodigy, he was introduced 
not only to all the literary men of the day, but 
to lords and ladies as well. He frequented 

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LITERARY ASSOCIATIONS OF EDINBURGH 

13, St. John Street, Canongate, the resi- 
dence of the eccentric judge who sent his wig 
home in a sedan-chair while he walked in 
the rain, counting himself among the ad- 
mirers of Lord Monboddo's daughter whom he 
mentioned in his "Address to Edinburgh": 

"Fair Burnet strikes the adoring eye — " 

and whose death he mourned in a plaintive 
lyric: 

' ' In vain ye flaunt in summer ' s pride, ye groves ; 
Thou crystal streamlet with thy flowery shore, 
Ye woodland choir that chant your idle loves, 
Ye cease to charm — Eliza is no more ! ' ' 

It was at Professor Adam Ferguson's 
Sciennes Hill House, in Braid Place, that he 
spoke a kind and never-forgotten word to the 
youngster, Scott. Record has it that the 
ploughman-poet was unembarrassed and un- 
spoiled by the attention that he received. He 
was willing to relax amid less dignified sur- 
roundings, however, and the publisher, Will- 
iam Smellie, found him one of the most joy- 
ous spirits of the Club that he established 
in Anchor Close, the Crochallan Fencibles. 
Smellie was described by Burns in some ex- 
temporaneous lines: 

91 



CHOSEN DAYS IN SCOTLAND 

"Shrewd Willie Smellie to Crochallan came, 
The old cock'd hat, the gray surtout, the same; 
His bristling beard just rising in its might, 
'Twas four long nights and days to shaving night; 
His uncomb'd grizzly locks, wild staring, thatch'd 
A head for thought profound and clear unmatch'd: 
Yet though his caustic wit was biting, rude, 
His heart was warm, benevolent, and good. ' ' 

On his death-bed, if tradition be true, Burns 
harked back to these lively days. "O these 
Edinburgh gentles" he is reported to have said, 
"if it hadna been for them, I had a constitu- 
tion would have stood onything! " 

It was at 30, St. James's Square that Burns 
spent the second year of his Edinburgh visit. 
To Miss Cruikshank, the daughter of his host, 
he addressed a song, "A Rosebud by My Early 
Walk, " and some lines which he wrote on the 
flyleaf of a book which he gave her. Here is 
a stanza from the latter poem: 

"Beauteous rosebud, young and gay, 
Blooming in thy early May, 
Never mayst thou, lovely flower, 
Chilly shrink in sleety shower! 
Never Boreas' hoary path, 
Never Eurus' poisonous breath, 
Never baleful stellar lights, 
Taint thee with untimely blights ! 
92 



LITERARY ASSOCIATIONS OF EDINBURGH 

Never, never reptile thief 

Riot on thy virgin leaf! 

Nor even Sol too fiercely view 

Thy bosom blushing still with dew ! ' ' 

On Mr. Cruikshank, who was one of the 
teachers in the famous Edinburgh High 
School, Burns wrote a jocose epitaph: 

"Honest Will's to heaven gane, 
And mony shall lament him; 
His faults they a' in Latin lay, 
In English nane e'er kent them. " 

In the Edinburgh National Gallery is a por- 
trait of Burns by Nasmyth, and the statue by 
Flaxman which was intended for the Burns 
monument on Calton Hill. 

A woman whose verses were much liked at 
this time was Lady Nairne (1766-1845) who 
wrote musical Jacobite songs (one of them 
entitled "Farewell, Edinburgh") and also the 
famous "Land o' the Leal." It is said that 
she kept the secret of the authorship of this 
poem for forty years. 

"I'm wear in' awa, John, 
Like snaw-wreaths in thaw, John; 
I'm wearin' awa 

To the land o' the leal. 
93 



CHOSEN DAYS IN SCOTLAND 

There's nae sorrow there, John; 
There's neither cauld nor care, John; 
The day's aye fair 

In the land o' the leal. ' ' 

The popularity of such rhymes shows that 
the people still loved the Scots tongue, but 
that English speech was becoming fashionable 
is attested by the fact that as early as 1761, 
Sheridan, the actor, lectured on English pro- 
nunciation in St. Paul's Episcopal Chapel in 
Carubber's Wynd. In Carubber's Close, by the 
way, Allan Ramsay built his theatre in 1736. 
In 1773 James Boswell had the honour of en- 
tertaining at Edinburgh Samuel Johnson, who 
was on his way to visit the Hebrides. The 
"White Horse" in the Canongate, Edward 
Waverley's inn in "Waverley, " first sheltered 
the famous author of "Rasselas" until Bos- 
well took him to his home in James's Court, 
off the Lawnmarket. In this same Court lived 
David Hume, the historian, before he was car- 
ried by the tide of fashion across to the New 
Town street, St. David. A monument in the 
Calton Graveyard marks Hume's burial-place. 
The two hundredth anniversary of his birth 
was commemorated by public exercises in 
Edinburgh on April 26, 1911. 

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LITERARY ASSOCIATIONS OF EDINBURGH 

James BoswelPs son, Sir Alexander (1775- 
1822), was a maker of somewhat laboured 
verse. His most strenuous effort was entitled 
* * Edinburgh, or the Ancient Royalty. " The 
following description of the High Street 
possesses an interest for the student of cus- 
toms that is not shared by the lover of poetry. 

1 ' Tier upon tier I see the mansions rise 
Whose azure summits mingle with the skies; 
There, from the earth, the labouring porters bear 
The elements of fire and water high in air; 
There, as you scale the steps with toilsome tread, 
The dripping barrel madefies your head; 
Thence, as adown the giddy round you wheel, 
A rising porter greets you with his creel ! 
Here in these chambers, ever dull and dark, 
The lady gay received her gayer spark, 
Who, clad in silken coat, with cautious tread, 
Trembled at opening casements overhead; 
But when in safety at her porch he trod, 
He seized the ring and rasped the twisted rod; 
No idlers then, I trow were seen to meet, 
Linked, six-a-row, six hours in Princes Street; 
But, one by one, they panted up the hill, 
And picked their steps with most uncommon skill ; 
Then, at the Cross, each joined the motley mob, 
'How are ye, Tarn?' and 'How's a' wi' ye, Bob?' 
Next to a neighbouring tavern all retired, 
And draughts of wine their various thoughts inspired. ' ' 

95 



CHOSEN DAYS IN SCOTLAND 

In 1804 the literary life of Edinburgh at- 
tracted there Elizabeth Hamilton, who is re- 
membered as the author of a popular song 
with a sentimental refrain: 

"My ain fireside, my ain fireside, 
O, there's nought to compare with ane's own fireside. " 

The truly useful work which "Mrs. " Hamilton 
accomplished for the bettering of housing and 
domestic conditions among the country people 
was done by her didactic but not unamusing 
novel, the "Cottagers of Glenburnie," a fore- 
runner of the "Window in Thrums'' and the 
"Bonnie Briar Bush." 

During Scott's youth a group of the city's 
older men was given over to the study of 
Moral Philosophy — Adam Ferguson, who suc- 
ceeded Hume as Keeper of the Advocates' 
Library; Hugh Blair; Adam Smith, later and 
better known as an economist; David Hume, 
regarded as an infidel, but the very good 
friend, nevertheless, of William Robertson, 
Principal of the University, and of his col- 
league at Greyfriars, John Erskine, both of 
whom are described in "Guy Mannering." 
Later, Scott was in the University class of 
the renowned moralist and orator, Dugald 

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LITERARY ASSOCIATIONS OF EDINBURGH 

Stewart, whose grave, with Adam Smith's, is 
in the Canongate Churchyard. 

Less weighty in his interests was John 
Home, whose play, '" Douglas," some twenty 
years before Scott's birth had caused an en- 
thusiast to cry out in the theatre, " Where's 
your Shakespeare now?" and had earned for 
its author such censure from his church that 
he resigned from the ministry. Henry Mac- 
kenzie, the "Man of Feeling," whose book 
Burns carried in his pocket until he had worn 
out two copies, was often in Edinburgh, and 
later, was Scott's neighbour at Lass wade. Ley- 
den, whose descriptions of the Border country's 
beauties were frequently quoted by Scott, and 
who is mentioned both in "St. Ronan's Well" 
and in "The Lord of the Isles" also loved the 
city. Thomas Campbell, whose "Pleasures of 
Hope" was an Edinburgh success in the same 
year that Scott made his translation of Goethe's 
"Gbtz von Berlichingen" was half a dozen 
years his junior. This translation of Goethe 
was the means of Scott's making the acquaint- 
ance of "Monk" Lewis, who was the popular 
literary hero of the moment, and who was the 
first to urge Scott to write verse. 

Another group of men of intellectual, 

97 



CHOSEN DAYS IN SCOTLAND 

though not especially of literary appeal, was 
made up of lawyers and judges. There were 
many legal celebrities in Scott's day, and, be- 
cause he was himself an advocate, they were 
of great interest to the young man. Rough 
Lord Braxfield was a neighbour of the Scotts 
in George Square, and Scott dedicated his 
"thesis" to him. Lord Eskgrove's eccentric 
manner he could imitate with after-dinner 
success, and he had a fund of anecdotes about 
Lord Karnes, Lord Meadowbank, and the chief 
men of the Edinburgh bar. Lord Blair, who 
is regarded now as the greatest of Scottish 
judges, was carried from his house in George 
Square, near the Scotts', to his grave in Grey- 
friars churchyard. Robert Dundas, Lord 
Advocate of Scotland, and Henry Erskine, a 
later holder of the office, were Scott's friends, 
and with Jeffrey, Brougham, and Cockburn 
(who was born in Parliament Close), he had 
ties of youthful companionship in work and 
sport. "Guy Mannering" has descriptions of 
bar and bench, Councillor Pleydell being an 
accurate description of Andrew Crosbie, it is 
said, and " Redgauntlet" is not without its 
allusions. Jeffrey and Cockburn were not far 
separated even in death, for both are buried 

98 




GO 

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W 



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«! 

H 
H 
O 
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in 
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CZ2 



LITERARY ASSOCIATIONS OF EDINBURGH 

in the Dean Cemetery. Aytoun the poet lies 
there also, and so does Nasmyth the artist. 

The coming of Sydney Smith to Edinburgh 
introduced a new and stirring element among 
the young men of Scott's acquaintance. 
Smith, who was born in the same year as Scott, 
had started to Weimar with a young man to 
whom he was tutor, but the troubles of 1798 
stopped their journey, and, to quote his own 
words, "in stress of politics we put into Edin- 
burgh where I remained five years. " His wit 
brought him immediate popularity, while his 
admirable parts made him acceptable to the 
brilliant men who, upon his suggestion at a 
meeting at Jeffrey's house, 18 Buccleuch Place, 
started the "Edinburgh Review." He pro- 
posed as its motto "TENUI MUSAM MEDI- 
TAMUR AVENA," which he translated "We 
cultivate literature upon a little oatmeal," but 
this was held to be too candid an admission of 
an uncomfortable truth to be allowed. Of the 
first number of the "Review" — October, 1802 
— Smith was the editor, but after its appear- 
ance he resigned the chair to Francis Jeffrey 
who occupied it until 1829. Smith always re- 
mained a contributor. 

Jeffrey was born in Edinburgh two yeai*s 

99 



CHOSEN DAYS IN SCOTLAND 

after Scott, was educated "in the abyss of 
Bailie Fyfe's close" and at the High School, and 
studied law at the University. He belonged 
to the Speculative Society and the Friday Club, 
both manned by the clever younger element 
of the day, such as Francis Horner, Brougham, 
and Scott. Jeffrey's criticisms on Burns, 
Keats, Wordsworth, and other contemporane- 
ous writers are marked not only by great 
clarity of discernment, but by courage, for it 
took considerable boldness as well as address 
to write with unsparing truth yet without giv- 
ing offence, of men who were his friends. 
When he became a judge Jeffrey lived at 24, 
Moray Place. 

Brougham's contributions to the "Review" 
show the acuteness that later marked the Lord 
Chancellor of England. Like Jeffrey he was 
born and educated in Edinburgh. He lived 
at 21, St.' Andrew Square. He was the chief 
political contributor of the "Review," whose 
politics, consequently, were Whig. Because 
of its attitude, Scott withdrew his connection 
and gave his support to Murray's ' ' Quarterly, " 
which was started in 1809 in open opposition 
to the older publication. So strong was the 
feeling of the moment against the "Review" 

100 



LITERARY ASSOCIATIONS OF EDINBURGH 

that, it is said, Lord Buchan ostentatiously 
kicked a copy of the magazine into the street 
from the doorstep of his house in George 
Square. Brougham left the " Review" when 
he was made Dean of the Faculty of Advocates 
in 1829, a year before he was elevated to the 
Chancellorship. 

One of the spiciest literary contributions 
ever made to the "Review" was the criticism, 
commonly attributed to Brougham, of Byron's 
"Hours of Idleness. " This is its beginning: 

"Hours of Idleness: A series of Poems, Original and 
Translated. By George Gordon, Lord Byron, a 
Minor. 8vo, pp. 200. Newark. 1807. 

"The poesy of this young lord belongs to the class 
which neither gods nor men are said to permit. In- 
deed, we do not recollect to have seen a quantity of 
verse with so few deviations in either direction from 
that exact standard. His effusions are spread over 
a dead flat, and can no more get above or below the 
level, than if they were so much stagnant water. As 
an extenuation of this offence, the noble author is pe- 
culiarly forward in pleading minority. We have it in 
the title page, and on the very back of the volume ; it 
follows his name like a favourite part of his style. 
Much stress is laid upon it in the preface, and the 
poems are connected with this general statement of his 

101 



CHOSEN DAYS IN SCOTLAND 

case, by particular dates, substantiating the age at 
which each was written. Now, the law upon the point 
of minority we hold to be perfectly clear. It is a 
plea available only to the defendant ; no plaintiff can 
offer it as a supplementary ground of action. Thus, 
if any suit could be brought against Lord Byron, for 
the purpose of compelling him to put into court a cer- 
tain quantity of poetry ; and if judgment were given 
against him ; it is highly probable that an exception 
would be taken, were he to deliver for poetry, the con- 
tents of this volume. To this he might plead minor- 
ity ; but as he now makes voluntary tender of the 
article, he hath no right to sue, on that ground, for 
the price in good current praise, should the goods be 
unmarketable. This is our view of the law on the 
point, and we dare to say, so will it be ruled. ' ' 

In retaliation for this "notice" Byron wrote 
"English Bards and Scotch Reviewers," whose 
preface says: 

"As to the Edinburgh Reviewers, it would indeed 
require a Hercules to crush the Hydra ; but if the 
author succeeds in merely 'bruising one of the heads 
of the serpent,' though his own hand should suffer in 
the encounter, he will be amply satisfied. ' ' 

Farther on Byron analyzes the critic's 
"trade" in the following lines: 

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LITERARY ASSOCIATIONS OF EDINBURGH 

' ' A man must serve his time to every trade 
Save censure — critics all are ready made. 
Take hackneyed jokes from Miller, got by rote, 
With just enough of learning to misquote; 
A mind well skill 'd to find or forge a fault; 
A turn for punning, call it Attic salt ; 
To Jeffrey go, be silent and discreet, 
His pay is just ten sterling pounds per sheet. 
Fear not to lie, 'twill seem a sharper hit; 
Shrink not from blasphemy, 'twill pass for wit; 
Care not for feeling — pass your proper jest, 
And stand a critic, hated, yet caress 'd. " 

Notably human and intimate is the account 
of the " Edinburgh Review" set given in the 
" Autobiography" of Eliza Fletcher, the wife 
of an Edinburgh advocate. Of the "Black- 
wood's" set there is no similar totalling, but 
the units bulk well in sturdy and enduring in- 
terest even if they lack the brilliancy of the 
men of the "Edinburgh" group. William 
Blackwood, publisher and bookseller, was born 
and died in Edinburgh. In 1817 he founded 
"Blackwood's Edinburgh Review" which he 
edited himself as a Tory opponent of the 
' ' Edinburgh Review. " Among its contributors 
was John Wilson, whose statue by Steel is 
familiar to frequenters of Princes Street Gar- 
dens, and whose grave is pointed out in the 

103 



CHOSEN DAYS IN SCOTLAND 

Dean Cemetery. He was the holder of the 
much-prized University Chair of Moral Phil- 
osophy, for whose possession he had defeated 
Sir William Hamilton. Wilson wrote verse, 
essays, and miscellany under the name "Chris- 
topher North." His "Noctes Ambrosianae, " 
genial and bohemian in flavor, purport to be 
a record of the outpourings of Hogg, the ' ' Et- 
trick Shepherd," and of kindred spirits at 
Ambrose's Tavern in Gabriel's Road. 

Hogg, again, is the Shepherd of Wilson's 
"Recreations of Christopher North," and in 
his own person he added to the pages of the 
"Review" much good material in both prose 
and verse. His verse was an outgrowth of his 
unlettered days when he made songs for the 
country lassies to sing. His talent was in- 
herited from his mother, from whom Scott ob- 
tained several ballads for the "Minstrelsy." 

Ably supporting "Kit North" was Lockhart, 
an Edinburgh lawyer, and a shrewd political 
writer, but best known as Scott's son-in-law 
and biographer. Poems, sketches, tales — a 
varied output — was that of David Macbeth 
Moir, who signed himself "Delta." Thomas 
Hamilton, a brother of the philosopher, showed 
that he held no grudge against Wilson for de- 

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LITERARY ASSOCIATIONS OF EDINBURGH 

feating his brother's University aspirations by 
working in cordial collaboration with "North" 
on the magazine. De Quincey, the "Opium 
Eater," wrote much for "Blackwood's" after 
1824, when he moved to Edinburgh. In his 
later days he did his literary work at 42, 
Lothian Street, where he was almost literally 
"snowed under" with papers. He is buried in 
the West Churchyard. "Blackwood's" was 
the vehicle that gave the public many of 
Aytoun's Jacobite songs. The author of the 
"Lays of the Scottish Cavaliers" was born and 
educated in Edinburgh, was a writer to the 
Signet and was admitted to the bar. 

The names of the publishing houses and of 
the Reviews are closely knit. Constable pub- 
lished the "Edinburgh," and the younger 
Murray the "Quarterly," whose fine list of 
contributors — Scott, Canning, and Heber, 
among them — could not give it the success of 
its livelier predecessor, though it ran it hard. 
Murray, the son, inherited the "Review" tra- 
dition, for his father had established a branch 
of the house in England and had published the 
"English Review." Constable was the pub- 
lisher of most of Scott's work from 1805 to 
1826, when his house, with Ballantyne's, 

105 



CHOSEN DAYS IN SCOTLAND 

failed, and caused Scott to achieve an amount 
of work to meet his obligations, which no 
writer but Mark Twain has ever tried to ac- 
complish. James Ballantyne, the printer of 
the ' ' Waverleys, " was a man of pompous man- 
ner, nicknamed by Scott, Aldiborontephosco- 
phornio. Before he moved to 3, Heriot Row, 
in the New Town, he lived in St. John Street, 
off the Canongate, away from the others of his 
trade who seemed to congregate farther up the 
hill. Andrew Hart's printing office was in 
Craig's Close, near the Parliament House, as 
were the dwellings of Constable and of Creech, 
whose bookshop was in the Luckenbooths. 
To Creech, who was Burns's first publisher, the 
poet once addressed a humorous "Epistle" 
when his friend was in London: 

"Auld Chuckie 1 Reekie's sair distrest, 
Down drops her ance weel-burnisht crest, 
Nae joy her bonny buskit nest 

Can yield ava. 
Her darling bird that she loves best, 
Willie's awa' ! 



"The brethren o' the Commerce-Chaumer 
May mourn their loss wi' doolfu' clamour; 



Hen. 

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LITERARY ASSOCIATIONS OF EDINBURGH 

He was a dictionar and grammar 

Amang them a' ; 
I fear they'll now mak mony a stammer — 

Willie's awa' ! 



"May I be Slander's common speech; 
A text for Infamy to preach; 
And lastly, streekit out to bleach 

In winter snaw 
When I forget thee, Willie Creech 

Though far awa!" 

One of Constable's chief copyrights had been 
that of the "Encyclopedia Britannica," and 
after the failure that was taken over by the 
house of Black, whose founder, Adam Black, 
has been honoured for his municipal activities 
by a statue in the Princes Street Gardens. 
Nelson and Chambers are well-known publish- 
ing names still existent. 

Of other literary folk of this unusual period, 
there are many who well deserve more than 
a line, but the list is too long for detail. It 
must not close, however, without mention of 
the author of the "Hymns of Faith and Hope" 
which have brought consolation to thousands, 
Bonar, who was born and died in Edinburgh; 
of Samuel Smiles, the author of "Self- Help," 

107 



CHOSEN DAYS IN SCOTLAND 

and of Charles Darwin, both students at the 
University; and of Thomas Carlyle, that es- 
sence of Scottish spirit and humour. When 
he was fourteen, Carlyle walked from Eccle- 
fechan to Edinburgh to enter the University; 
later he studied law, supporting himself while 
doing so by teaching mathematics and by writ- 
ing for an encyclopedia. It was at Comely 
Bank, Edinburgh, that he lived soon after his 
marriage with Jane Welsh, who was a native 
of Haddington, Smiles's birthplace; and it was 
to the honour of Rector of Edinburgh Univer- 
sity that he was elected in 1866. 

During Scott's prime, and for almost a 
quarter century after his death, Hugh Miller 
roamed the earth and wrote about what he 
found. More to Scott's taste was the fiction 
of MissFerrier (1782-1854), whose novels won 
his approval. She visited the Scotts both at 
Ashestiel and at Abbotsford, and is referred 
to in " Tales of My Landlord" and in Scott's 
Diary. 

Motherwell (1797-1835), author of the still 
living verses, ' ' Jeanie Morrison, ' ' was educated 
in Edinburgh, and so was Dr. John Brown 
(1810-1882), whose "Rab and His Friend" is 
immortal. Robert Michael Ballantyne (1825- 

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LITERARY ASSOCIATIONS OF EDINBURGH 

1894), the author of some eighty books for 
boys, was a nephew of Scott's printers. 

Of Scott himself Edinburgh is full of con- 
stant reminders. In the College Wynd he 
was born; in his father's house at 25, George 
Square he lived until he married Miss Char- 
pentier whom he brought home to lodgings at 
108, George Square. Their first establishment 
was at 10, South Castle Street, and at 39, 
North Castle Street most of the novels were 
written during the twenty-six years that the 
great writer laboured there. After the bank- 
ruptcy, when the Castle Street house was given 
up, he stayed temporarily in the city in several 
places, now in North St. David Street, now in 
Walker Street, and when on his way home 
from the Continent to Abbotsford to die, at 
Douglas's Hotel in St. Andrew Square. After 
his marriage, Scott went to St. George's, an 
Episcopal Church in York Square, occupying 
at first pew 81, and then pew 85. So com- 
pletely did the novelist make every part of 
the city his own that it seems truly fitting 
that his statue should look out upon Princes 
Street with the calm of possession. 

Of Scott's pride in Edinburgh many tales are 
told — how he looked upon the High Street as 

109 



CHOSEN DAYS IN SCOTLAND 

the finest thoroughfare in Europe; how he used 
to drive through the Old Town at a foot pace 
that he might breathe the atmosphere of an- 
tiquity that rilled it; how he admired the view 
from Salisbury Crags, and how the path that 
now winds up the ascent was laid out upon the 
rough footway that he used to follow, and 
which he described in the "Heart of Midlo- 
thian." 

Of his knowledge of Edinburgh there are 
unending evidences in all that he has written. 
The "Heart of Midlothian" is filled with allu- 
sions reaching from one end of the town to the 
other — from the Grassmarket and the Krames 
and the site of the Tolbooth to St. Anthony's 
Chapel on Arthur's Seat. "Guy Mannering" 
has as many, clustering around the Market 
Cross and the Parliament House and Grey- 
friars. "My Aunt Margaret's Mirror" tells 
the story of Lady Stair, an ancestress of Lord 
Rosebery, who has had Lady Stair's Close 
renovated in her honour. " Redgauntlet" re- 
cords how loath were the Fairf ords, father and 
son, easily recognisable as the Scotts, to re- 
move from the Luckenbooths to the New 
Town. "The Fortunes of Nigel" has chroni- 
cled in Jingling Geordie the career of George 

110 



LITERARY ASSOCIATIONS OF EDINBURGH 

Heriot, the founder of the Edinburgh school, 
Heriot's Hospital. 

To those who know Edinburgh, every word 
that connects the beloved city and the beloved 
man is laden with interest, but to all who 
have knowledge of Scott's work, the tribute 
of Jeffrey engraved upon the plate deposited 
in the corner-stone of the Scott Monument 
finds confirmation in their own hearts. They 
will agree that his "admirable writings were 
then [in 1840] allowed to have given more 
delight and suggested better feeling to a larger 
class of readers in every rank of society than 
those of any other author, with the exception 
of Shakespeare alone. " Even the people who 
place Dickens above Scott must agree that 
this opinion was true at that time. 

Since Scott's contemporaries have passed on 
there has come the ebbing tide that is the nat- 
ural sequence of high water. Even the Edin- 
burgh "Quarterly" has fallen into the hands 
of the Sassenach with two successive English 
editors. The multi-voiced Andrew Lang, to 
be sure, is a "school" in himself; Pinero, the 
versatile, made his stage debut in "Scotia's 
darling seat; " and Conan Doyle, son of a clerk 
in the Edinburgh Exchequer Office, was born 

111 



CHOSEN DAYS IN SCOTLAND 

and educated in the town that is the most pro- 
voking to the imagination of any in the king- 
dom. 

Of the " kailyard school" of the '90's, 
Crockett was trained at Edinburgh University 
and at the New Theological College; Barrie 
followed Dumfries Academy by Edinburgh 
University where he took an A. M. , and Ian 
Maclaren preached in Edinburgh. 

Foremost of all the moderns stands forth 
Stevenson, of Edinburgh birth and education, 
who has written of his birth-town with inti- 
macy and affectionate candour. ' ' And yet the 
place establishes an interest in people's hearts, " 
he says after reviling its climate; "go where 
they will, they find no city of the same dis- 
tinction; go where they will, they take a pride 
in their old home." "For every place is a 
centre to the earth, whence highways radiate 
or ships set sail for foreign ports. There is no 
Edinburgh emigrant, far or near, from China 
to Peru, but he or she carries some lively pic- 
tures of the mind, some sunset behind the 
Castle cliffs, some snow scene, some maze of 
city lamps, indelible in the memory and de- 
lightful to study in the intervals of toil." 



112 



CHAPTER VI 

IN LOTHIAN 

THE hills about Edinburgh — Arthur's 
Seat, the Salisbury Crags, the Pentland 
and Braid Hills — give variety to the 
scenery and attain almost to the dignity of 
mountains, one of the Pentlands rising to an 
altitude of some nineteen hundred feet. 

A short distance from Edinburgh is the ruin 
of Craigmillar Castle, a favourite resort of 
Queen Mary's, who felt herself somewhat with- 
drawn here from the Scottish sternness, new 
to her experience and foreign to her nature. 
Here she brought her French guards, who so 
pervaded the place that the vicinity of the 
castle was nicknamed " Little France." 

On the Firth of Forth, which is spanned by 
its wonderful cantilever bridge, over a mile and 
a half long and three hundred and sixty feet 
high, is Leith, Edinburgh's harbour. It has 
been the scene of many stirring historic events, 
among them the three-months' siege (in 1560) 

113 



CHOSEN DAYS IN SCOTLAND 

of Mary of Guise by the opposing Protestants. 
Cromwell built a citadel here, but that, like 
almost all of the town's ancient landmarks, has 
been swept away. When Leith is enveloped 
by a thick "haar" or misty fog, it recalls the 
gloomy day when young Queen Mary, sad- 
dened by her farewell to the sunny shores of 
France, landed with her escort, and went to 
Edinburgh to assume responsibilities that 
would have taxed an older and more experi- 
enced head than hers. 

Along the coast of the Firth are frequent 
reminders of Scotland's stormy past. Near 
Musselburgh, with its fine old Jacobean man- 
sion, Pinkie House, where Prince Charles slept 
the night after Prestonpans, Charles I's 
forces met the Covenanters in 1638, and Crom- 
well went into quarters in 1650. Near by, at 
Pinkie, the Scots suffered a terrible defeat from 
the English under Hertford. Prestonpans has 
another story, for it was here that Prince 
Charles, the debonair "Young Pretender" 1 with 
the help of his intrepid and faithful High- 
landers brought his fortunes to the flood by his 
total defeat of the English forces in 1745. 



1 From pretendant, meaning "claimant." 

114 



IN LOTHIAN 

The English General Cope retreated so rapidly 
to Berwick-upon-Tweed that he was able to 
carry the news of his own defeat. 

At Carberry Hill, another memorable spot 
near Pinkie, Queen Mary and Bothwell met 
the rebel lords. There was no battle, as the 
Queen's forces could not be trusted, and after 
some parleying, the harassed Queen agreed to 
surrender to her insurgent nobles if they would 
allow Bothwell to ride away unmolested. Her 
captors took their sovereign to Edinburgh and 
then to Loch Leven Castle, where she was 
imprisoned for nearly a year. Seton House, 
farther along on the coast, replaces an older 
"Palace" whose owners were among Queen 
Mary's devoted adherents. Mary Seton was 
one of the Queen's "four Maries," and Lord 
George Seton never wavered in an allegiance 
that is recorded upon a slab in the ancient 
Collegiate Church of Seton. 

A little way inland from Prestonpans is 
Haddington, the principal town of the county 
of Haddington or East Lothian. Its chief 
buildings are a church of Gothic architecture, 
once thought to be so unusual as to be called 
the "Lamp of Lothian, "and the Knox Insti- 
tute, a school which commemorates John 

115 



CHOSEN DAYS IN SCOTLAND 

Knox's birth in the town. Samuel Smiles, 
whose " Self -Help" was a power in its day, and 
Jane Welsh Carlyle also were born here. South 
of the town roll the Lammermoor Hills, which 
Scott has made famous. 

North Berwick, the leading watering-place 
of Scotland and the rival of St. Andrews in 
golfing facilities, has for its chief attraction 
that grim old Douglas stronghold, Tantallon 
Castle, which, to be sure, is two miles farther 
along the coast. The ruin stands on a precip- 
itous cliff overlooking the sea. No description 
could be more graphic than the one in "Mar- 



mion: ' : 



"Tantallon vast, 
Broad, massive, high, and stretching far, 
And held impregnable in war, 
On a projecting rock it rose, 
And round three sides the ocean flows, 
The fourth did battle walls enclose, 

And double mound and fosse; 
By narrow drawbridge, outworks strong, 
Through studded gates, an entrance long, 

To the main court they cross. 
It was a wide and stately square, 
Around were lodgings fit and fair, 

And towers of various form, 
Which on the coast projected far, 
And broke its lines quadrangular; 

116 



IN LOTHIAN 

Here was a square keep, there turret high, 
Or pinnacle that sought the sky, 
Whence oft the warder could descry 

The gathering ocean storm. 

The early history of the Castle is not known, 
but it came into the possession of the Doug- 
lases in Robert II's time. When the old Earl 
of Angus, known as ' ' Bell-the-Cat, " advised 
against the battle of Flodden, James IV told 
Angus, if he was afraid, to go home. Marmi- 
on was sent to Douglas as an enforced guest, 
and in Tantallon fretted at his inactivity. 
At last 

"He had safe conduct for his band, 
Beneath the royal seal and hand, ' ' 

and started forth "To Surrey's camp to ride." 
His hand, offered in farewell, was refused in 
the familiar lines 

"My castles are my King's alone 
From turret to foundation-stone — 
The hand of Douglas is his own, 
And never shall in friendly grasp 
The hand of such as Marmion clasp. ' ' 

Affronted, Marmion cries: 

"And if thou said'st I am not peer 
To any lord in Scotland here, 

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CHOSEN DAYS IN SCOTLAND 

Lowland or Highland, far or near, 
Lord Angus, thou hast lied. ' ' 

The lie direct was not to be brooked by any 
Douglas; it roused Angus Bell-the-Cat to rage. 

"And darest thou then 
To beard the lion in his den, 

The Douglas in his hall? 
And hopest thou hence unscath'd to go? 
No, by Saint Bride of Bothwell, no ! 
Up drawbridge, grooms — what, Warder, ho! 

Let the portcullis fall. ' ' 

' ' Lord Marmion turned — well was his need, 
And dashed the rowels in his steed, 
Like arrow through the archway sprung, 
The ponderous grate behind him rung; 
To pass there was such scanty room, 
The bars, descending, grazed his plume. 

1 ' The steed along the drawbridge flies 
Just as it trembled on the rise ; 
Nor lighter does the swallow skim 
Along the smooth lake's level brim, 
And when Lord Marmion reached his band, 
He halts and turns with clenched hand, 
And shout of loud defiance pours, 
And shook his gauntlet at the towers. ' ' 

Off the coast at this point is the great Bass 
Rock, rising three hundred and fifty feet sheer 

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IN LOTHIAN 

out of the water. It is a mile around at the 
base and is accessible only at one point and 
only in calm weather. In the eighth century 
St. Baldred, a Culdee hermit, built his cell 
here. It is a remarkable fact that these Cul- 
dees, products of Celtic Christianity, have left 
traces of their occupancy in remote and 
solitary and often almost inaccessible places 
throughout Scotland. The Bass Rock, long a 
possession and stronghold of the Lauders, was 
bought some two hundred and fifty years ago 
by the Government and converted into a 
prison. Many of the Covenanters were im- 
prisoned here during long and terrible years. 
Tantallon Castle was considered so impregna- 
ble and the Bass Rock so hard of access, that a 
proverb concerning the impossible came into 
use: "Ding doon Tantallon; mak a brig to 
the Bass!" The summers of Robert Louis 
Stevenson's childhood were spent on this coast 
with the waves beating on the rock before him 
as he played in the sunlight. 

There is little left of Dunbar Castle, whose 
name, meaning "the castle on the point," de- 
scribes its fine position on an out-thrust pro- 
montory. It has its share of romance. It 
was already over three hundred years old when 

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CHOSEN DAYS IN SCOTLAND 

Black Agnes, Countess of March, successfully 
defended it for six weeks (in 1399) against the 
English. It was one of the strongholds that 
Queen Mary gave into Bothwell's charge, and 
here she fled after Riccio's murder, and again, 
disguised as a page, when she escaped from 
Bothwick Castle. After Carberry Hill the 
Regent Moray laid it in ruins. 

Baliol was defeated near Dunbar, and nearly 
four centuries later, Cromwell won a battle 
here that gave him entrance to Edinburgh. 

In the Valley of the Esk (not the Dumfries- 
shire stream of Lochinvar's adventure, but 
another rising in the Pentlands and flowing 
into the Firth of Forth near Edinburgh) we 
shall find more cheerful associations. At 
Lasswade the cottage is shown where Scott 
spent the first summers of his married life. 
Nearby Roslin and Hawthornden with their 
beautiful surroundings made a neighbourhood 
which, it may well be believed, Scott found 
very much to his taste. 

Rosslyn Chapel — the village is called Roslin 
— stands on a bank of the Esk. It was built 
by an ancestor of the present Earl of Rosslyn 
in 1446. The intention was to build a colle 
giate church, but only the chapel was com- 

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X 

o 

- 

DC 

o 

P3 



IN LOTHIAN 

pleted, and that is so ornate, so wonderfully 
decorated with exquisite and beautiful carving 
both inside and out, that on the whole it 
seems well there is not more of it. Under the 
chapel is a vault in which the uncoffined earls 
of Rosslyn lie, dressed in full armour. 

Dorothy Wordsworth, who visited the chapel 
with her brother, wrote: "The architecture 
within is exquisitely beautiful. The stone, 
both of roof and walls, is sculptured with 
leaves and flowers so delicately wrought that 
I could have admired them for hours, and the 
whole of their groundwork is stained by time 
with the softest colours. Some of these leaves 
and flowers were tinged perfectly green, and 
at one part the effect was most remarkable — 
three or four leaves of a small fern, resembling 
that which we call 'adder's tongue,' grew 
round a cluster of them at the top of a pillar, 
and the natural product and the artificial were 
so intermingled that at first it was not easy to 
distinguish the living plant from the other, 
they being of an equally determined green, 
though the fern was of a deeper shade. ' ' This 
effect cannot be observed now, for on the res- 
toration of the chapel all the plants and 
vines were removed from its walls. 

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CHOSEN DAYS IN SCOTLAND 

Dr. Robert Chambers describes the way in 
which Annie Wilson, an old woman who used 
to show visitors the chapel, told the story of 
the famous " Prentice's Pillar" around which 
twine beautifully sculptured wreaths: "There 
ye see it, gentlemen, with the lace bands wind- 
ing sae beautifully roon' aboot it. The mais- 
ter had gone awa' to Rome to get a plan for 
it, and while he was awa' his prentice made a 
plan himsel' and finished it, and when the 
maister came back, and f and the pillar finished, 
he was sae enraged that he took a hammer and 
killed the apprentice. There ye see the pren- 
tice's face, up there in the corner wi' a red 
gash in his brow, and his mither greeting 1 for 
him in the corner opposite. And there, in 
another corner, is the maister, as he lookit 
just before he was hanged — it 'shim wi' a kind 
o' ruff roond his face. " The same story is told 
of other pillars elsewhere, but perhaps not 
with the same flavour. 

There is a superstition that on the night be- 
fore the death of any of the Lords of Rosslyn 
the chapel appears in flames. Scott made use 
of this tradition in his ballad of "Rosabelle" 
in "The Lay of the Last Minstrel: " 

1 Weeping. 

122 



IN LOTHIAN 

"O'er Roslin all that dreary night, 

A wondrous blaze was seen to gleam; 
'Twas broader than the watch-fire's light, 
And redder than the bright moonbeam. 

"It glared on Roslin's castled rock, 
It ruddied all the copse-wood glen; 
'Twas seen from Dryden's groves of oak, 
And seen from cavern 'd Hawthornden. 

"Seemed all on fire that Chapel proud, 
Where Roslin's chiefs uncoffined lie, 
Each Baron, for a sable shroud, 
Sheathed in his iron panoply. 

"Seemed all on fire within, around, 
Deep sacristy and altar's pale; 
Shone every pillar foliage-bound, 

And glimmered all the dead men's mail. 

"Blazed battlement and pinnet high, 

Blazed every rose-carved buttress fair — 
So still they blaze, when fate is nigh 
The lordly line of high St. Clair." 

A short distance away against a cliff over- 
looking a beautiful glen of the Esk is the 
ruined Rosslyn Castle, burned by the Earl of 
Hertford. It was restored, and a century after 
Hertford it was again despoiled by the Eng- 
lish. Its approach is across a bridge over a 
rocky chasm, and its lower floors are hewn out 

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CHOSEN DAYS IN SCOTLAND 

of the solid rock. Great state was maintained 
by the owners, the St. Clairs. It is related 
that in the reign of James VI the lady of the 
house "was served by seventy-five gentle- 
women, all cloathed in velvet and silk with 
their chains of gold and other ornaments, and 
was attended by two hundred riding gentlemen 
in all her journeys." 

Burns wrote some simple lines "To the 
Landlady of the Inn at Rosslyn. " 

* ' My blessings on you, sonsie wife ; 
I ne'er was here before; 
You've gien us walth for horn and knife, 
Nae heart could wish for more. 

' ' Heaven keep you free frae care and strife, 
Till far ayont fourscore; 
And, while I toddle on through life, 
I'll ne'er gang by your door. " 

A charming wooded path winding along the 
glen of the Esk brings us to Hawthornden, 
splendidly situated on a precipitous cliff over- 
looking the river. This was the home of the 
poet Drummond of Hawthornden, who was 
born here in 1585. Underneath the old man- 
sion, which has been restored since Drum- 
mond's time; are caves which more than once 

124 



IN LOTHIAN 

have been a haven of refuge to the per- 
secuted. 

An old oak-tree is still pointed out under 
which, it is said, Drummond welcomed Ben 
Jonson, who had walked all the way from 
London to see him, with the words: "Wel- 
come, welcome, Royal Ben!" Jonson's reply 
was, "Thank ye, thank ye, Hawthornden." 
Scott says: 

"Sweet are the paths, O passing sweet 
By Eske's fair stream that run, 
O'er airy steep, through copsewood deep, 
Impervious to the sun. 

<c Who knows not Melville's beechy grove, 
And Roslin's rocky glen, 
Dalkeith, which all the virtues love, 
And classic Hawthornden? ' ' 

Dalkeith refers to Dalkeith House, the noble 
old seat of the Duke of Buccleuch, the head 
of the house of Scott. 

"We'll aff to fair Roslin an' sweet Habbie's Howe 
By fairy-led streamlet an' castle-crowned knowe, 
We'll climb the high Pentlands without pech or grane, 
The green hills will mak' us a' callants again. " 

At Carlops, near the Pentlands, is Habbie's 

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CHOSEN DAYS IN SCOTLAND 

Howe, a lovely glen identified with Allan 
Ramsay's " Gentle Shepherd": 

"Gae far'er up the Burn to Habbie's Howe, 
Where a' the sweets o' spring and summer grow; 
Where 'tween twa birks, and ower a little linn, 
The water fa's and mak's a singin' din; 
A pool, breast deep, beneath, as clear as glass, 
Kisses wi' easy whirls the bord'rin' grass." 

The "fairy-led streamlet" is the Glencorse 
Burn, which has been dammed into a prosaic 
reservoir, Compensation Pond, to serve the 
needs of Edinburgh. Like the Aswan Dam 
and lovely Philae, the modern ' ' improvement' ' 
submerged a ruined chapel, a thank-offering 
to St. Katharine for the preservation of Will- 
iam St. Clair, of Rosslyn. He had wagered 
his head with his sovereign, Robert Bruce, 
that his dogs, Help and Hauld, would bring 
down a deer before it crossed Glencorse Burn. 

' ' ' Help and Hauld, ' on ye may, 

Or Roslin will lose his head this day. ' ' 

The dogs did not betray his confidence, but 
their master seems to have felt that he had 
a narrow escape, and the stone that marks his 
grave shows him in the attitude of prayer, a 
dog lying at his feet. 

126 



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CHAPTER VII 

TWO ROYAL TOWNS 

*Of all the palaces so fair, 

Built for the royal dwelling 
In Scotland, far beyond compare 

Linlithgow is excelling ; 
And in its park, in jovial June, 
How sweet the merry linnet's tune, 

How blithe the blackbird's lay ! 
The wild buck bells from ferny brake 
The coot dives merry on the lake, 
The saddest heart might pleasure take 

To see all nature gay.' " 

— From Sir David Lindesay's tale in tt Marmion.'' ) 



TWENTY miles west of Edinburgh on 
one of the lines to Glasgow lies the 
sleepy town of Linlithgow. The quaint 
little place of one narrow, winding street has 
the ruin of a magnificent palace, and, adjoin- 
ing it, the historic old church of St. Michael. 
A reassuring welcome is given to visitors by 
the old burgh motto, * ' St. Michael is kind to 
strangers. ' ' The shimmering waters of the 
blue loch, on the bank of which the palace 

in 



CHOSEN DAYS IN SCOTLAND 

stands, and the peaceful, smiling country 
stretching away on every side of the village, 
would seem to have been an auspicious setting 
for the advent of the baby who, at the age 
of six days became the Queen of the Scots. 
James V brought his bride, Mary of Guise 
here, and the room is still shown where their 
daughter Mary was born while her father lay 
dying in his favourite palace of Falkland. 
This happened soon after the disastrous battle 
of Solway Moss, which, together with the re- 
bellion of his nobles, and the death of his two 
sons, affected King James so deeply that, 
though he was only in his thirtieth year, he 
took to his bed and died almost literally of 
a broken heart. The birth of his daughter 
seemed only to add to his discouragement, 
for when the news was brought to him, he 
turned sorrowfully away with the remark, 
"It cam with ane lass, and it will pass with 
ane lass," referring to Robert Bruce 's inher- 
itance of the kingdom through his grand- 
mother. 

Before history gives any record of the pal- 
ace, a peel tower stood here, and was used by 
the kings as a hunting lodge. It was de- 
stroyed, then rebuilt, and additions were 

128 



TWO ROYAL TOWNS 

made from time to time. Four of the Jameses 
lived here, and they bestowed the palace and 
the township of Linlithgow on their brides 
as dower from Mary of Gueldres to Anne of 
Denmark. 

Over the window of Queen Mary's room is 
a coat of arms, placed there with belated re- 
spect by her son James VI. There, also, are 
the rooms occupied by her father and her 
grandfather, and the vault is shown where 
James III concealed himself from the traitor- 
ous nobles who were seeking to slay him, while 
Queen Margaret sat near, working, with seem- 
ing composure, on her embroidery. In a 
tower room, another Queen Margaret waited 
and watched in vain for the return of her 
king, James IV, from the fatal field of Flod- 
den. The Regent Moray is said to have died 
in the guard-room of the palace after he was 
shot by Hamilton of Bothwellhaugh, a man 
whom he had grievously injured. In the 
court of the stately ruin is a fine old foun- 
tain, placed there by James V. The fountain 
in front of the Palace of Holyrood is a rep- 
lica. 

The Church of St. Michael is very ancient. 
It was when James IV was at his devotions 

129 



CHOSEN DAYS IN SCOTLAND 

in this church that an apparition warned him 
against his project of taking troops into Eng- 
land. 

Scott says: 

"This story is told by Piscottie with characteristic 
simplicity: 'The king, seeing that France could get no 
support of him for that time, made a proclamation, 
full hastily, through all the realm of Scotland, both 
east and west, south and north, as well in the Isles as 
in the firm land, to all manner of man betwixt sixty 
and sixteen years that they should be ready, within 
twenty days, to pass with him, with forty days victual, 
and to meet at the Burrow-muir of Edinburgh, and 
there to pass forward where he pleased. His proclama- 
tions were hastily obeyed, contrary to the Council of 
Scotland's will; but every man loved his prince so 
well, that they would in no ways disobey him ; but 
every man caused make his proclamation so hastily 
conform to the charge of the king's proclamation. 

" 'The king came to Lithgow, where he happened to 
be for the time at the council, very sad and dolorous, 
making his devotion to God, to send him good chance 
and fortune in his voyage. In this meantime, there 
came a man clad in a blue gown in at the kirk-door, 
and belted about him in a roll of linen cloth ; a pair 
of brotikings 1 on his feet, to the great of his legs ; 

1 Buskins. 

130 



TWO ROYAL TOWNS 

with all other hose and clothes conform thereto : but 
he had nothing on his head, but syde 1 red yellow hair 
behind, and on his haffets, 2 which wan down to his 
shoulders ; but his forehead was bald and bare. He 
seemed to be a man of two-and-fifty years, with a 
great pike-staff in his hand, and came first forward 
among the lords, crying and speiring 3 for the king, 
saying, he desired to speak with him. While, at the 
last, he came where the king was sitting in the desk at 
his prayers ; but when he saw the king, he made him 
little reverence or salutation, but leaned down groning 
on the desk before him, and said to him in this man- 
ner, as after follows : ' Sir king, my mother hath sent 
me to you, desiring you not to pass, at this time, where 
thou art purposed ; for if thou does, thou wilt not fare 
well in thy journey, nor none that passeth with thee. 
Further, she bade thee mell 4 with no woman, nor use 
their counsel, nor let them touch thy body, nor thou 
theirs ; for, if thou do it, thou wilt be confounded and 
brought to shame. ' 

" 'By this man had spoken thir words unto the 
king's grace, the evening song was near done, and the 
king paused on their words, studying to give him an 
answer ; but, in the meantime, before the king's eyes, 
and in the presence of all the lords that were about 
him for the time, this man vanished away, and could 
no ways be seen nor comprehended, but vanished away 



Long. 2 Cheeks. 3 Asking. 4 Meddle. 

131 



CHOSEN DAYS IN SCOTLAND 

as he had been a blink of the sun, or a whip of the 
whirlwind, and could no more be seen. I heard say, 
Sir David Lindesav, lyon-herauld, and John Inglis the 
marshal, who were, at that time, voung men, and spe- 
cial servants to the king's grace, were standing pres- 
ently beside the king, who thought to have laid hands 
on this man, that they might have speired further 
tidings at him. But all for nought ; they could not 
touch him; for he vanished awav betwixt them, and 
was no more seen. ' ' ' 

The story is paraphrased in "Marmion: " 

"Stepped from the crowd a ghostly wight 
In azure gown, with cincture white; 

And words like these he said, 
In a low voice, — but never tone 
So thrilled through vein and nerve and bone : 
'My mother sent me from afar, 
Sir King, to warn thee not to war, — 

War waits on thine array; 
If war thou wilt, of woman fair, 
Her witching wiles and wanton snare, 
James Stuart, doubly warned, beware: 

God keep thee as He may. ' 

But King James was influenced by many 
things, among them a letter from Anne of 
Brittany, Queen of France. 

132 



TWO ROYAL TOWNS 

"For the fair Queen of France 
Sent him a turquoise ring and glove, 
And charged him, as her knight and love, 

For her to break a lance, 
And strike three strokes with Scottish brand, 
And march three miles on Southron land, 
And bid the banners of the band 

In English breezes dance. 

"And thus for France's queen he drest 
His manly limbs in mailed vest, 
And thus admitted English fair 
His inmost councils still to share, 
And thus for both he madly planned 
The ruin of himself and land! 

And yet, the sooth to tell, 
Nor England's fair nor France's queen 
Were worth one pearl-drop, bright and sheen, 

From Margaret's eyes that fell, — 
His own Queen Margaret, who in Lithgow's bower 
All lonely sat and wept the weary hour. ' ' 

King James marched the three miles on 
English ground, and in the midst of the circle 
of nobles who fell defending their sovereign, 
he fought bravely until at last he himself was 
struck down, a victim of his own rashness. 
Yet, so contradictory is life, it is the very 
daring that slew him that has made him a 
hero of romance. 

138 



CHOSEN DAYS IN SCOTLAND 

After a defeat by "Bonnie Prince Charlie" 
in the "Forty-five," the English troops under 
Hawley were quartered in the palace and did 
their utmost toward its destruction. 

In the very heart of Scotland, on the wind- 
ing river Forth is Stirling Castle, crowning 
a bold headland whence the sea receded long 
ages past. Its situation, like that of Edin- 
burgh, is magnificent, dominating all the sur- 
rounding country. Little is known of its 
early history, but the very nature of its posi- 
tion made it inevitable that from earliest 
times some kind of stronghold should have 
crowned the lofty rock. It is known to have 
been a Roman post, while from the twelfth 
century the castle became one of the most 
powerful fortresses in the country. It was 
regarded as the key to the Highlands, and its 
importance as a stronghold may be judged by 
the number of battle-fields that lie about it, 
the most famous of all, Bannockburn, being 
only two miles away. The town has several 
interesting old buildings, one of them an 
elaborate ruin called Mar's Work, built in the 
sixteenth century by the Earl of Mar, with 
stones taken, it is said, from nearby Cambus- 
kenneth Abbey. In this Abbey lie the bodies 

134 




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TWO ROYAL TOWNS 

of James III and his queen, the Danish prin- 
cess Margaret. James, who had added the 
Parliament House to Stirling Castle, was de- 
feated by his barons led by his own son, in 
the battle of Sauchieburn, and was treacher- 
ously stabbed after the fight was over. His 
son, the James of the Linlithgow warning 
and of Flodden, ever after wore as penance 
an iron belt, to whose weight he added as each 
new year laid upon him a heavier burden of 
remorse. The best preserved building in 
Stirling, and an excellent example of the 
Scottish baronial style of architecture is "Ar- 
gyll's Lodging, ' ' now used as a military hos- 
pital. It has a stately dignity and simple 
richness that is found in some of the old 
French chateaux. This is especially notice- 
able in the ornamental mouldings above the 
windows. 

Most impressive is the view of the Castle 
from a distance, as it stands dauntlessly upon 
its crag, and most lovely and far-reaching is 
the prospect to be seen from the ramparts. 
An old rhyme says: 

"A lairdship o' the bonnie links o' Forth 
Is better than an earldom in the north. ' ' 

135 



CHOSEN DAYS IN SCOTLAND 

Within, however, the great pile is not of espe- 
cial interest. The exterior of the palace built 
by James V may be examined, but the build- 
ings which are used as barracks are, for the 
most part closed to the public. It was a fa- 
vourite residence of the Stuart kings, and 
James II, III, IV, and V, are said, by differ- 
ing authorities, it is true, to have been born 
here. It was here that James II stabbed his 
guest, the rebellious Douglas. James V was 
crowned in Stirling when he was two years 
old, and it was to Stirling and freedom that 
a night ride brought the fifteen year old king 
after his escape from Falkland Castle, and the 
power of the Douglases. From here he used 
to go off on rambles among his people under 
the title of the "gudeman of Ballangeich, " 
from the name of a path or hollow on the 
castle rock. Mary, at the age of nine months, 
was crowned here, and, with the exception of 
a short time spent on the Isle of Inchmahome 
on the Loch of Monteith, the little Queen lived 
in the castle until she went to France to be 
educated and married. After her return it 
was at Stirling that she announced to her no- 
bles her approaching marriage with Darnley, 
which took place here not long after. She 

136 



TWO ROYAL TOWNS 

came here from Edinburgh for her son's chris- 
tening, which was performed with much pomp 
and magnificence. The sulking Darnley re- 
fused to be present, though he was in the town. 
Some months later, after the compulsory abdi- 
cation of Queen Mary while she was prisoner 
in Loch Leven Castle, the baby James was 
crowned in the High Church in Stirling: 
"where Knox, in preaching the Coronation 
sermon, enjoyed the proudest triumph of his 
life." For thirteen years the boy king lived 
in Stirling Castle, where he was taught Greek 
and Latin by the same man who had taught 
his mother the classics — George Buchanan, 
one of the greatest scholars of his age. 

During the many contests for power among 
the Scottish magnates, the castle was now in 
the hands of one party, now of another. The 
Covenanters garrisoned it during their strug- 
gle. During the "Fifteen, ' ' Argyle held town 
and castle against Mar and the Jacobites, and 
during the "Forty-five, " Prince Charles made 
two efforts to seize the stronghold. When 
the Duke of Argyle with his forces from 
Stirling met the Earl of Mar at the head of 
the Jacobites the hostile armies ascended the 
opposite sides of the Hill of Muir and surprised 

137 



CHOSEN DAYS IN SCOTLAND 

each other at the top — hence the indecisive 
battle described in the following verses: 

BATTLE OF SHERIFFMUIR 

"Some say that we wan, 

Some say that they wan, 
And some say that nane wan at a', man; 

But o' ae thing I'm sure, 

That at Sheriffmuir 
A battle there was that I saw, man: 

And we ran, and they ran, 

And they ran, and we ran, ' 
And they ran and we ran awa', man." 

Two earlier battles should be mentioned — 
one at Stirling Bridge, in which William 
Wallace gained a complete victory over the 
English; the other, one of the greatest events 
of Scottish history, the battle of Bannock- 
burn. This fight, of vital importance to 
Scotland, took place in 1314, some ten years 
after Edward I had marched into Scotland 
and had taken possession of many castles. 
Robert Bruce had been crowned at Scone and 
was conquering both his Scottish enemies and 
the English. When he captured a Scottish 
fortification, as he had not enough men to re- 
garrison it he destroyed it, that it might not 

138 



TWO ROYAL TOWNS 

fall again into the hands of the English. 
The only stronghold left to the enemy was 
Stirling Castle, which Bruce' s brother Ed- 
ward had under siege. During the siege 
Edward Bruce made an agreement with Philip 
de Mowbray, governor of the garrison, that 
if the castle were not relieved within a year, 
that is, by St. John's Day, June 23, 1314, it 
should be surrendered. There was an ele- 
ment of chivalry about the pact well suited 
to the age. Both sides prepared for the con- 
test, Edward II assembling forces which have 
been estimated variously at from 60,000 to 
100,000 men. About three thousand were 
knights in armour, horsed on steeds "barded 
from counter to tail. ' ' The archers, each 
with his long bow and " twenty-four Scots' 
lives under his belt, ' ' were nearly 20, 000. 

Robert Bruce, whose army was only about 
a third as large as the enemy's, with few 
horsemen or archers, took his stand on a ridge 
in the King's Park south of the castle, sup- 
plementing his lack of numbers by wise gen- 
eralship. He took advantage of the lay of 
the land by facing his army, divided into four 
great "schiltrons, " toward the ravine of the 
Bannock Burn, where it was crossed by the old 

139 



CHOSEN DAYS IN SCOTLAND 

Roman Road along which the English army 
would advance. The Scottish forces were pro- 
tected on one side by a wood, on the other by 
a marsh. On each side of the road, in front, 
was a bog, and the solid ground was honey- 
combed with concealed holes. 

On June 23 the English force appeared, 
hot and weary after their long march. Bruce 
was riding up and down in front of his army, 
giving orders and placing his men, when 
Sir Henry de Bohun rode from the English 
side and challenged him to single combat. 
As they spurred toward each other de Bohun 
missed the king, who drove his battle-axe 
with a great blow through his opponent's 
helmet. 

"High in his stirrups stood the King 
And gave his battle-axe the swing, 
Right on de Boune, the whiles he passed, 
Fell that stern dint — the first, the last, 
Such strength upon the blow was put, 
The helmet crashed like hazel nut. 

— Scott, ' * Lord of the Isles. ' ' 

The fateful battle took place the following 
day. After a preliminary skirmish between 
the bowmen, the body of English knights 
charged the ' 'schiltrons' ' or massed spearmen. 

140 




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TWO ROYAL TOWNS 

"And when the two hosts so came together, 
and the great steeds of the English dashed into 
the Scottish pikes as into a thick wood, there 
rose a great and horrible crash from rending 
lances and dying horses, and there they stood, 
locked together, for a space. ' ' When the con- 
tact became too close for the Scots to wield 
their spears they used their claymores and 
Lochaber axes with terrible effect. The scene 
of the action was so contracted that the Eng- 
lish were hampered by their very numbers. 
Those in front fought bravely, their way being 
rapidly blocked by their falling comrades. 
The rear ranks, however, not being able to ad- 
vance, gave way a little. On observing this 
the Scots, shouting, " On them! on them! they 
fail ! ' ' pressed forward. At this moment the 
English saw, marching over a hill in the rear 
of the Scots, a large body of men waving ban- 
ners and arms. These were Bruce 's gillies 
and camp-followers carrying, it is said, their 
blankets on poles in lieu of flags. The Eng- 
lish, already dispirited, thinking another re- 
serve was joining in the attack, wavered a 
moment, then broke and fled. Edward, with 
a few of his knights, spurred on straight 
through to Berwick, followed hotly by Doug- 

141 



CHOSEN DAYS IN SCOTLAND 

las. He lost thousands of his men in the 
battle, and many of the fugitives were slain. 
His camp, with all its valuable equipment, re- 
mained in the hands of the Scots. 

"The character of the challenge, the chiv- 
alric character of the compact, and the 
complete victory of the smaller nation that 
was fighting for its very existence, thus 
entitle Bannockburn to rank, not only as 
the greatest battle in Scots history, but as 
one of the most memorable in the annals of 
war. . . . 

"Its moral effect was not to be reckoned by 
the number of the slain English. It was 
illimitable. The pride of that great achieve- 
ment infused itself into the very life-blood of 
the nation, and was one of the determining 
factors of its destiny. ' ' 1 

By the believing the fact that the Abbot of 
Inchaff ray marched before the Scottish troops 
bearing St. Fillan's arm, is sufficient to ac- 
count for the victory. 2 



1 " Scotland of To-Day," by T. F. Henderson and Francis 
Watt. 

2 "Maurice, abbot of Inchaffray, placing himself on an eminence, 
celebrated mass in sight of the Scottish army. He then passed 
along the front, bare-footed, and bearing a crucifix in his hands, 
and exhorting the Scots in few and forcible words, to combat for 

142 



TWO ROYAL TOWNS 

About a mile and a half south of Stirling 
is the famous Bore Stone, where Bruce is said 
to have set up the Scottish standard. The 
castle ramparts afford an excellent view of 
the field of Bannockburn. 

Southwest from the castle, in the King's 
Park, is a large grassy, terraced mound, oc- 
tagonal in shape. In early times — it existed 
before Bannockburn — it was called the Round 
Table, but in later times it was known as the 
King's Knot. Its purpose is not known, 
though it is supposed to have been used for 
some royal game. 

From the castle walls may be seen the fer- 
tile Links of Forth on one of which stands 
a stately tower, all that remains of the once 
wealthy and famous Cambuskenneth Abbey. 
In the west, on a fair day, Ben Lomond and 
some of his neighbouring peaks loom through 
the haze. A still more extensive view is to be 
had from the Wallace Monument which stands 
on a height called Abbey Craig, two miles 
north of Stirling, 



their rights and their liberty. The Scots kneeled down. 'They 
yield,' cried Edward; 'see, they implore mercy.' 'They do,' 
answered Ingelram de Umfraville, 'but not ours. On that field 
they will be victorious, or die.' " — Annals of Scotland. 

143 



CHOSEN DAYS IN SCOTLAND 

Burns's "Lines on Viewing Stirling Palace" 
make entertaining reading, if caustic: 

"Here Stuarts once in glory reign'd, 
And laws for Scotland's weal ordain' d; 
But now unroof 'd their palace stands, 
Their sceptre's sway'd by other hands; 
The injured Stuart line is gone, 
A race outlandish fills their throne — 
An idiot race, to honour lost: 
Who know them best despise them most. ' ' 



144 



CHAPTER VIII 

THE KINGDOM OF FIFE 

NORTH of the Firth of Forth lies the in- 
teresting peninsular often designated by 
its old appellation, the Kingdom of Fife. 
Though its scenery lacks the rugged features 
found in many other parts of Scotland, its 
gently rolling country, attaining a height of 
seventeen hundred feet in one of the Lomond 
Hills, has a delightful atmosphere of peace and 
contentment. The Kingdom of Fife has had 
its share of history and romance. Abernethy, 
in the north, was the capital of the old southern 
Pictish Kingdom; Dunfermline and Falkland 
were favourite residences of royalty; and St. 
Andrews was the ecclesiastic capital of Scot- 
land. Quaint little old-world towns and vil- 
lages with alluring names line the coast all the 
way from Aberdour to St. Andrews. These 
were trading-towns of the Middle Ages, and 
were so prosperous that James V compared Fife 
to a beggar's cloak with a fringe of gold. 

145 



CHOSEN DAYS IN SCOTLAND 

They present somewhat of a Dutch aspect, 
with their red-tiled roofs and narrow streets, 
and with an attractive atmosphere all their 
own they invite the traveller to linger, to en- 
joy their quaintness and quiet, to visit the ruin 
of some storied castle, or to play the royal and 
ancient game of golf, which calls its devotees 
from all along the coast. From this shore is 
a magnificent view of Edinburgh and the 
Lothian coast. 

The famous Forth Bridge, that marvel of 
modern engineering, spans the Firth near 
Queensferry, where Queen Margaret used to 
cross in going from Dunfermline to Edin- 
burgh. Dunfermline, a few miles from the 
coast, is not an attractive town in itself, but it 
has a shrine well worth a visit, one which made 
it almost hallowed ground some centuries ago. 
Dunfermline Abbey has a fascinating story of 
which only the outline can be given. 

Malcolm, after the assassination of his father, 
King Duncan, by Macbeth, fled to England, 
but after seventeen years he returned and met 
Macbeth in a battle in which the latter was 
defeated and slain. This success gave the 
crown to Malcolm, who went to Fife and built 
a strong tower, a remnant of which still stands 

146 



THE KINGDOM OF FIFE 

on a hill in Pittencrieff Glen in Dunfermline. 
It was to this stronghold, which was the begin- 
ning of Dunfermline, that Malcolm welcomed 
Edgar the Atheling and his sister Margaret, 
the royal Saxon fugitives from England, at 
the time of the Norman Conquest. Malcolm 
soon loved the beautiful girl and made her his 
queen, and as she was as lovely in character as 
in person, her softening and refining influence 
not only was felt in the rough Celtic court, 
but in time raised the standard of civilization 
throughout the entire country. 

Up to this time the Scottish Church had fol- 
lowed the Celtic practices, but through the 
influence of the young Queen it was brought 
under the Roman rule. Margaret also founded 
the abbey, and she and Malcolm bestowed on 
it valuable grants of land and many rich gifts. 

Of the original abbey only the splendid 
Anglo-Norman nave remains. That seems 
filled with ancient and stately memories. The 
new eastern part of the church, which is almost 
glaring in its freshness though nearly a hun- 
dred years have passed since it was built 
(in 1818) on the site of the old choir, is, 
fortunately perhaps, cut off from the nave by 
a partition. The west entrance is an excep- 

147 



CHOSEN DAYS IN SCOTLAND 

tionally fine example of the recessed Norman 
doorway. For those who wish only to visit 
the ancient shrine there would be little reason 
for visiting the new part, beautiful as it 
may be, were it not that the dust of Robert 
Bruce lies under the pulpit. While the new 
building was being erected, those in charge 
found a tomb which they thought was that of 
Bruce. Walter Scott was present when the 
grave was opened, and relates how they found 
the "skeleton of a tall man," which they 
identified as that of King Robert, both by 
the fragments of the cloth of gold which 
was the King's winding-sheet, "and also be- 
cause the breastbone appeared to have been 
sawed through, in order to take out the heart. ' ' 
He also describes the moving scene which fol- 
lowed the placing of the bones in the new 
tomb which had been made for them: "Before 
the coffin was closed the people were allowed 
to pass through the church, one after another, 
that each one, the poorest as well as the rich- 
est, might see all that remained of the great 
King Robert Bruce, who restored the Scottish 
monarchy. Many people shed tears, for there 
was the wasted skull which once was the head 
that thought so wisely and boldly for his 

148 




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THE KINGDOM OF FIFE 

country's deliverance; and there was the dry 
bone which had once been the sturdy arm that 
killed Sir Henry de Bohun, between the two 
armies, at a single blow, on the evening before 
the battle of Bannockburn. " A new-looking 
brass tablet with a likeness of the king lies 
over the tomb. It would seem that King 
Robert might have chosen to have his dust rest 
in the old nave, if he could have had a voice 
in the matter. 

Outside the new church where once the Lady 
Chapel stood is the tomb of Margaret and 
Malcolm Canmore, marked by great slabs of 
grey stone, ornamented only by the lichens 
that cover them. Its simple massive dignity 
is most impressive, and has an air of perma- 
nence that would be lacking in a more elabor- 
ate monument. Because of the many miracles 
wrought at Queen Margaret's tomb and on ac- 
count of the queen's good life and her numer- 
ous benefactions to the church, she was can- 
onised in the year 1250. Formerly Iona was 
the burial-place of the kings, but it was suc- 
ceeded by Dunfermline Abbey where were 
laid the bodies of most of the kings with their 
queens from Malcolm Canmore to Robert 
Bruce. 

149 



CHOSEN DAYS IN SCOTLAND 

The palace, which succeeded Malcolm's 
tower and was a favourite royal residence, is 
now a ruin, though the remaining portion con- 
tains the window of the room in which were 
born Charles I, and also his sister Elizabeth, 
through whom the present ruler of England 
inherits the throne. It is conjectured that 
Alexander III is referred to in the famous 
ballad of "Sir Patrick Spens: " 

"The King sits in Dunfermline toun, 
Drinking the bluid-red wine. ' ' 

And it was near Ringhorn, one of Fife- 
shire's oldest villages, that Alexander met his 
death by a fall from his horse, confirming the 
portent of his grisly wedding-guest at Jed- 
burgh. 

The example of Malcolm's and Margaret's 
generosity has been followed some eight hun- 
dred years later by a son of Dunfermline, 
Andrew Carnegie, who has bought and pre- 
sented to his native city beautiful grounds 
— Pittencrieff Park and Glen. Mr. Carnegie 
has also given the town a library and a Tech- 
nical School as well as two and a half million 
dollars, the income of which, managed by a 
board of trustees, is to be used to promote the 

150 



THE KINGDOM OF FIFE 

''higher welfare, physical, intellectual, and 
moral, of the inhabitants. " The cottage where 
Andrew Carnegie was born is one of the show- 
places of Dunfermline. 

North of Dunfermline, just over the line in 
Kinross-shire, lies Loch Leven, beautifully 
situated, with the Vale of Kinross stretching 
away to the north and east, and on the north- 
east the Lomond Hills where is the historic 
palace of Falkland. There used to be a super- 
stition that the loch had some mysterious con- 
nection with the number eleven, "being eleven 
miles around, surrounded by eleven hills, fed 
by eleven streams, peopled by eleven kinds of 
fish, and studded by eleven islands." The 
water has been lowered, however, so that now 
the loch is only eight and a half miles in cir- 
cumference. Whatever the other ten kinds of 
fish may be, that one for which Loch Leven is 
famous is the trout. 

On one of the islands are the remains of 
a religious institution of the Culdees, but a 
glamour of melancholy romance is thrown over 
the waters of the loch from the fortress-tower 
where Queen Mary was imprisoned for nearly 
a year. It was after her surrender to the 
nobles on Carberry Hill. At that time the 

151 



CHOSEN DAYS IN SCOTLAND 

people of Edinburgh were very bitter against 
the unfortunate Queen, and she was quietly 
taken to Loch Leven Castle, where she was 
put in the custody of Lady Douglas, the 
mother of the Earl of Moray, Mary's half- 
brother. It was a dismal place, made more so 
by the cruel treatment to which Mary was sub- 
jected, all of which, together with the story of 
her escape, is most interestingly told in "The 
Abbot." 

Mary's first attempt to escape was not suc- 
cessful. She exchanged clothes with her laun- 
dress, concealed her face with a great muffler, 
and bending under the weight of a heavy 
bundle of linen, entered the boat which was to 
take the laundress ashore. They were almost 
across the Loch, when Mary was betrayed by 
the "hand of snowy whiteness" that she raised 
to arrange the muffler which had become 
loosened. Notwithstanding the Queen's pro- 
tests the boatmen rowed her back to the 
castle. The next attempt, planned by George 
Douglas, a son of the house, was also futile. 
George, because of his share in these plans, 
and also because he was suspected, justly, it 
seems, of loving Mary, was expelled from the 
castle. He continued to plot for her escape, 

152 



THE KINGDOM OF FIFE 

and a younger brother, William ("Roland 
Graeme" in "The Abbot") was won to her 
allegiance. On the memorable night a hun- 
dred horsemen were concealed among the hills, 
and several were at Kinross near the loch. 

''William Douglas had the address to steal the keys 
from the hall in which Sir William and his mother 
were sitting at supper; the Queen at the appointed 
signal once more descended with her female attendant 
to the lake, where a little boat was waiting, into which 
they both eagerly entered; the maiden assisted the 
youth in rowing, and when they approached the shore, 
he flung into the lake the keys of the castle they had 
just quitted. Another coadjutor in this enterprise 
was John Beaton, who had held frequent communica- 
tion with George Douglas ; and, by his assistance, pro- 
vided horses to facilitate the Queen's deliverance. 
Scarcely had she landed, when, by their care, she was 
mounted on a palfrey, and conveyed to Niddry, the 
seat of Lord Seaton ; where, surrounded by affectionate 
friends, Mary might repeat with ecstacy, 'I am once 
more a Queen!' How often, in succeeding years of 
Captivity, must the recollection of that rapturous wel- 
come have imparted a momentary sensation of pleasure 
to her oppressed heart ! 

• •••••• 

"After a halt of three hours, she proceeded to 
Hamilton, where having solemnlv revoked her com- 

153 



CHOSEN DAYS IN SCOTLAND 

pulsory abdication, she dispatched a messenger to the 
Regent, to demand the restitution of her crown. 
Every moment was now big with interest ; the nobles 
promised allegiance ; John Beaton departed for Eng- 
land, to solicit aid from Elizabeth; native troops 
crowded to the Queen's banner, and, in a few days, 
6,000 men were assembled. But, unfortunately, there 
was neither a Morton nor a Murray to direct their 
movements; those brave followers were without an 
efficient chief ; neither prudence nor energy prevailed 
in their deliberations ; and whilst the Queen entreated 
to be conveyed to Dumbarton, the rash counsels of the 
Archbishop of St. Andrew's, who projected the Queen's 
marriage with his nephew, Lord Arbroath, precipi- 
tated the final battle of Langside. ' ' * 

Of the vivid interest that clings even now to 
everything connected with Queen Mary, A. 
R. Hope Moncrieff writes suggestively: 

"The dourest Scotman's heart has three soft spots, 
the memory of Robert Burns, the romance of Prince 
Charlie, and the misfortunes that seem to wash out the 
errors of that girl queen. This is dubious ground, into 
which tons of paper and barrels of ink have been thrown 
without filling up a quaking bog of controversy. I 
myself have heard a distinguished scholar hissed off 



1 " Memoirs of the Life of Mary Queen of Scots," Miss Ben- 
ger, 1823. 

154 



THE KINGDOM OF FIFE 

the most philosophic platform in Scotland for throwing 
a doubt on Queen Mary's innocence, so I will say no 
more than that her harshest historian, if shut up with 
her in Loch Leven as page or squire, might have been 
tempted to steal the keys and take an oar in the boat 
that bore her over those dark waters to brief freedom 
and safety." 

In the year 1805, during a drought, the 
keys of Loch Leven Castle were found and 
"delivered to Mr. Taylor, of Kinross, by whom 
they were presented to the Earl of Morton. " 
They subsequently were added to Sir Walter's 
collection at Abbotsford. 

For many centuries a favourite Fif eshire re- 
sort of the Scottish kings was the Forest of 
Falkland, where the sport-loving monarchs en- 
joyed their chief pastime, hunting. Here they 
had in early days a castle which was replaced 
in later times by a palace. This in turn fell 
into somewhat the condition of a ruin, but, 
like several of the royal dwellings, it was re- 
stored by James V in preparation for his mar- 
riage to Mary of Guise. It was at Falkland 
that James died after the battle of Solway 
Moss. Like most of the other Scottish palaces, 
Falkland — the name is said to be derived from 
"falcon" — has connected with it enough 

155 



CHOSEN DAYS IN SCOTLAND 

romantic tales to fill a volume. It was here 
that the gay young Duke of Rothesay, the heir 
to the crown of Robert III, is said to have been 
imprisoned and starved to death by his ambi- 
tious uncle, the Duke of Albany. The story 
is told in "The Fair Maid of Perth." Crom- 
well sacrificed the beautiful Forest of Falkland 
for wood with which to build a fortification at 
Perth. The Earl of Hertford, Oliver Crom- 
well, and John Knox never allowed little 
things like a noble forest, centuries old, or a 
stately old palace with countless memories, or 
a magnificent abbey which had shone as a 
brilliant light illuminating the darkness of the 
Middle Ages, to impede the carrying out of 
their desires. Such things seemed to be in 
their view but chaff to be blown away. They 
had the courage of their convictions, but one 
wishes they had not been so overzealous in 
their iconoclasm. 

On any bright morning in summer the eyes 
of travellers on trains drawing into St. 
Andrews may be gratified by seeing a small 
army of golfers on the renowned links, and 
again by the warm sunny welcome given them 
by the stately old city. Golfers are every- 
where; they emerge from the train carrying 

156 



THE KINGDOM OF FIFE 

bundles of golf -sticks; and it seems as if most 
of the townspeople, from the children up, have 
sticks in their hands. It makes the unprovided 
feel conspicuous, even though they know they 
are in the golf capital of the world, and they 
are inclined to slip away to one of the three 
streets which converge at the cathedral. Near 
the station the city looks particularly cheerful 
and new, but once through the West Port, 
one of the old city gates dating from the fif- 
teenth century, it is easier to remember that 
St. Andrews was once the stately ecclesiastical 
capital of Scotland and that tragedies have 
taken place there. Not far from the West 
Port is the ivy-clad fragment of the Blackf riars 
Monastery, a testimony to John Knox's influ- 
ence and the result of his sermon on Idolatry, 
preached in the Town Church of St. Andrews 
on June 5, 1559. The people of the town were 
so inflamed by that discourse that they im- 
mediately destroyed the monasteries of the 
Grey and Black Friars and the great cathedral. 
A sight of the beautiful and mournful re- 
mains of the cathedral makes it seem incredible 
that even in fanatical rage a mob could, in a 
few days, have brought to such utter ruin a 
magnificent structure that it had taken more 

157 



CHOSEN DAYS IN SCOTLAND 

than a century and a half to build. It is agreed 
that the reformers destroyed the monasteries, 
but some authorities maintain that they did 
not demolish the walls of the cathedral. Why 
they should have stopped with the monasteries, 
when in other places they did not hesitate to 
demolish fine cathedrals, is not stated. 

Only a few fragments are left of the once 
magnificent church, but these are now being 
cared for, and it is a pleasure in visiting the 
ancient place to be able to trace, by an outline 
in the greensward, the lines of the foundations 
and the position of the pillars. Of the five 
original spires three remain, "the skeleton of 
its antique magnificence lifting up its gaunt 
arms to the sky, " according to Dean Stanley. 
The cathedral is said to have been founded by 
Bishop Arnold about 1160, and it "slowly 
emerged from the hands of the builders, the 
crowning glory of the Scottish ecclesiastical 
system, and for centuries kings, nobles, and 
peasants bowed the knee before its altars." 
The Augustinian Priory, next to the cathe- 
dral the wealthiest ecclesiastical institution in 
the kingdom, possessed elaborate and extensive 
buildings enclosed by a thick wall a mile in 
circumference. Among the priors were some 

158 



THE KINGDOM OF FIFE 

of the most eminent and learned men of Scot- 
land. Near the west door of the cathedral is 
a deep archway called the Pends, which was 
the principal entrance to the priory. They 
builded nobly and well, those old ecclesiastics, 
and the world would have lost a most precious 
possession if at least the remains of their 
splendid religious edifices had not been pre- 
served to be an example of beauty and grace 
and strength and stateliness in architecture. 

A few yards from the east end of the cathe- 
dral is the square tower of St. Regulus, which 
belonged to a still older building. Its history 
is not known, but it is supposed to have been 
built by the Celtic church. There it has stood 
for many centuries, plain and austere, but im- 
pressive in its simplicity. The tradition was 
that St. Regulus, or St. Rule, was, at some 
time in the fourth century, shipwrecked here 
with the relics of St. Andrew in his possession. 
However that may be, it is known that at an 
early date a Celtic brotherhood here had its 
establishment, probably the successor of an 
earlier Columbian cell, and that it possessed 
a shrine supposed to contain the relics of St. 
Andrew, which drew pilgrims in great num- 
bers. 

159 



CHOSEN DAYS IN SCOTLAND 

The ruin haunted by the most harrowing 
memories is that of the castle, on a rocky cliff 
overlooking the sea. It was for four centuries 
the archi-episcopal palace, and within its walls 
have been entertained nobles, prelates, ambas- 
sadors, and kings. It looks peaceful enough on 
a rare August day, the bright sunlight on its 
grassy turf within and the shimmering sea 
lazily lapping its rocky base giving no hint of 
those other days of storm when the angry 
ocean dashes its waves over the very walls. 
With a moat and drawbridge in front, and the 
sea at its back, the old castle must have been 
well-nigh impregnable. The walls which are 
standing are not those from which Cardinal 
Beaton is said to have watched the dying 
agonies of George Wishart, the martyr, whom 
he burned at the stake. After the cardi- 
nal was murdered, the castle was destroyed, 
but was afterward rebuilt by Archbishop 
Hamilton, Cardinal Beaton's successor. It is 
all a gruesome tale, from the martyrdom of 
Wishart to the seizing and murdering of the 
cardinal a few months later by a number of the 
reformers. In their pious zeal several of them 
attacked and stabbed the old man, and dangled 
his bleeding body from the same window 

160 




Ancient Tower of St. Regulus. 



THE KINGDOM OF FIFE 

whence he had watched the burning martyr. 
John Knox joined the reformers and aided 
them to hold the castle against the French 
fleet which came to relieve it. It was finally 
taken and destroyed, and Knox and his com- 
panions were captured and sent to the galleys. 

The strange feature of the castle which time 
and man have found difficult to injure is the 
Bottle Dungeon in the old sea-tower. It is, 
as its name suggests, of the shape of a bottle 
hollowed in the solid rock to the depth of 
twenty-four feet, and it is seventeen feet in 
diameter at the base. The prisoner lowered 
into that dungeon must have left all hope be- 
hind. Cardinal Beaton's body lay in the Bottle 
Dungeon well covered with salt, according to 
John Knox's account, until it could be buried. 

In the town church is a monument to Arch- 
bishop Sharp, primate of Scotland, who was 
torn from his carriage on Magus Moor, three 
miles from St. Andrews, and in the presence 
of his supplicating daughter was foully assas- 
sinated by a band of Covenanters. Happily 
those are far-away days, and it is not for us to 
judge the perpetrators of those evil deeds. 

The University of St. Andrews is the oldest 
in Scotland, founded (in 1411) more than 

161 



CHOSEN DAYS IN SCOTLAND 

three-quarters of a century before Columbus 
set forth on his memorable voyage. The 
Pope's bull confirming the establishment of 
the new institution was received with elabor- 
ate ceremonial. To-day a degree from St. 
Andrews has marked value among students, 
and with those who golf praise from the criti- 
cal caddies of the St. Andrews links is a certifi- 
cate no less creditable in its way. Of one of 
the University professors a caddy is reported 
to have said, " He'll never be a golfer, but he's 
fairly intelligent," and no doubt the recipient 
of the compliment felt that he had achieved 
new letters after his name. 



162 



CHAPTER IX 

PERTH AND DUNKELD 

PERTH, for many centuries the capital of 
Scotland, has a superb situation on the 
banks of the Tay. To the traveller who 
is acquainted with its interesting history, the 
first view of the city is as disappointing as is 
the first glimpse of Rome. It repays a visit, 
however, not so much on account of a few 
mutilated and ancient landmarks, as for the 
beauty of the surrounding country. The 
"Fair City" is probably older than Stirling. 
It is said that the Romans, on first beholding 
the town and the winding Tay, exclaimed 
"Ecce Tiber!" 

" 'Behold the Tiber!' the vain Roman cried, 

Viewing the ample Tay from Baiglie's side; 

But where 's the Scot that would the vaunt repay, 

And hail the puny Tiber for the Tay?" 

— Scott. 

Perth was a town of importance in Pictish 
times when Kenneth M' Alpin was crowned at 

163 



CHOSEN DAYS IN SCOTLAND 

Scone, a mile and a half distant. When Agri- 
cola built his camp hard by it was known as 
Bertha, and so it was*called until the thirteenth 
century when its church was dedicated to St. 
John the Baptist. Further to honour its patron 
the city itself was called St. Johnstoun. The 
appellation was too ecclesiastical for the Re- 
formers, who resumed the use of the original 
name which had been slowly modified to Perth. 
It was in that same church of St. John that 
John Knox preached on the eleventh of May, 
1559, the inflammatory sermon which resulted 
in the destruction of most of the beautiful 
ecclesiastical buildings of Scotland. Knox him- 
self tells, with righteous exultation, how his 
followers in Perth worked so busily that in 
the space of two days they had destroyed all 
but the walls of three costly and magnificent 
monasteries, the Grey Friars, the Black Friars, 
and the greatest of all, the Carthusian. The 
church which was despoiled and otherwise in- 
jured, only the tower and part of the walls 
being spared, was rebuilt and divided into 
three places of worship. The tower and the 
eastern end date from the time of Bruce. 

In the Blackf riars Monastery, the poet-king, 
James I, was murdered by Sir Robert Graham. 

164 



PERTH AND DUNKELD 

When the king was recalled from his long ex- 
ile in England, he was thirty years old and 
had not only the advantage of an English edu- 
cation but was skilled in the use of arms and 
had some knowledge of statecraft. With the 
determination, "If God gives me but a dog's 
life, I will make the key keep the castle and 
the brachen bush the cow," he resolutely de- 
termined to set his kingdom in order. This, 
among other high-handed measures, necessi- 
tated the execution of several nobles. He had 
ruled ably and actively for thirteen years when 
a conspiracy, of which Graham was the ring- 
leader, was formed to assassinate him. They 
chose the time when he was visiting Perth, and 
the court was occupying Blackfriars Monas- 
tery. It was evening, and James was talking 
with the Queen when they heard the tumult of 
the approaching conspirators, admitted by the 
recreant royal chamberlain. Some traitor had 
removed the bolts from the doors, and Cathe- 
rine Douglas, one of the Queen's ladies-in- 
waiting, thrust her arm through the staples, 
while the King concealed himself in a vault 
beneath the room. His hiding-place was dis- 
covered and he was "mercilessly dirked to 
death" in the presence of the Queen. She had 

165 



CHOSEN DAYS IN SCOTLAND 

the assassins hunted down, and within a month 
the chief members of the conspiracy were cap- 
tured and put to death with torture. The 
Queen was that Joan Beaufort, who inspired 
a part of the beautiful poem, "The King's 
Quhair" (book), in which James describes the 
royal girl as from his prison window he saw 
her walking in the garden below. 

"The fairest and the freshest younge flower 
That e'er I saw, methought, before that hour." 

For nearly three centuries after 1200 a. d. 
Perth was the seat of the Parliament as well 
as of the court, but in 1482 James III trans- 
ferred the Parliament to Edinburgh. 

On Curfew Street is a fine old building, sup- 
posed to be the house of the "Fair Maid of 
Perth," one of whose admirers, according to 
Scott, was the young Duke of Rothesay. In 
the course of Scott's novel he gives an account 
of the combat between the clans Chattan and 
Quhele on the North Inch, one of the two his- 
toric meadows of Perth. This was the unique 
method chosen to allow the two clans to 
settle a deadly feud. Thirty men were selected 
from each clan, and in the presence of King 
Robert III and some foreign guests they 

166 



PERTH AND DUNKELD 

fought to a finish, or until only one man was 
left on the Clan Chattan side and eleven in 
the Quhele ranks, of whom only one was 
left unwounded. 

The North Inch, on which this struggle 
took place, and which is now a pleasure- 
ground, and the South Inch are large public 
meadows between which lies the city. It was 
on the South Inch that Cromwell built a fort, 
using stones from one of the ruined monas- 
teries, tombstones, trees from the Forest of 
Falkland, in fact, any suitable material that 
he could find. Not a vestige of the great 
fortification remains. Indeed there is little to 
show Perth's former consequence, or that for- 
merly it was occupied at different times by 
the Queen Regent, Mary of Guise, by the 
Lords of the Congregation, by Montrose, 
Cromwell, Claverhouse, the Pretender, and 
Prince Charles Edward. 

The County Buildings stand on the site of 
Gowrie House, the scene of the alleged attempt 
on James VI' s life. On an August day in 
1600 the King, who was hunting near the pal- 
ace of Falkland, was told by Alexander Ruth- 
ven, brother of the Earl of Gowrie, of a captive 
taken at Gowrie House whose treasure should 

167 



CHOSEN DAYS IN SCOTLAND 

belong to His Majesty. James rode the twelve 
miles to Perth, and after dinner was over, was 
asked to enter alone a turret in an angle of 
the castle. It was but a few minutes before 
his attendants, awaiting him in the garden, 
heard his cries for help, and in the ensuing 
struggle on the winding tower-stair the Earl of 
Gowrie and his brother both were killed. The 
excitement spread; in the streets of Perth were 
citizens who so loved the Ruthvens that they 
were ready to think that the attack had been 
made against them. Indeed, the King and his 
men had to follow the Gowrie House grounds 
to the Tay and take boat with some lack of 
royal dignity. Of the real inspiration of the 
fight history never has made certain, though 
it is supposed that the two Ruthvens sought to 
entrap James in revenge for the execution of 
their father who had failed in a similar at- 
tempt to secure the King some seventeen years 
before at the ancient Castle of Ruthven, now 
called Huntingtower, some two and one-half 
miles from Perth. 

The main attractions of Perth, however, are 
outside the city — the walks through the beau- 
tiful country-side and the views from Kinnoul 
Hill which looms over the town. 

168 



PERTH AND DUNKELD 

From the North Inch of Perth there is visi- 
ble across the river the modern Scone Palace, 
its interest being that it stands on or near the 
site of the old Abbey of Scone which was de- 
molished by the Reformers. 

Tradition says that Kenneth M'Alpin, who 
became King of the united Picts and Scots 
in 844 a.d., brought from Dunstaffnage the 
Stone of Destiny upon which the Scottish 
kings were crowned down to James I. When 
that monarch was murdered at Perth, the 
queen hastened to Edinburgh with her seven 
year old son, who was crowned at Holyrood 
Abbey. Edward I, on one of his incursions 
into Scotland, "lifted" the historic stone and 
placed it in the Coronation Chair in Westmin- 
ster Abbey where it has since been used at the 
coronations of the English kings. An old 
rhyme, whose truth was confirmed when James 
VI ascended the English throne, says: 

"Except old seers do feign, 
And wizard wits be blind, 
The Scots in place must reign 

Where they this stone shall find. ' * 

According to one legend, it is the pillow on 

which Jacob's head rested when he had the 

vision of the angels. 

169 



CHOSEN DAYS IN SCOTLAND 

The shrine of this treasure was a Culdee col- 
lege or monastery, which was succeeded by the 
abbey. Near Scone Palace is the Mote-hill, 
known, however, as the Boot-hill, because, the 
story goes, after a coronation, the attending 
nobles poured out of their boots the earth 
which they had brought with them to enable 
them to stand on their own land while assist- 
ing at the ceremony. In the coronation hall 
of the Abbey of Scone, Charles II was crowned 
— the last coronation in Scotland. 

Stretching away from Perth toward Dun- 
dee, a nobly situated but grimy town devoted 
to the manufacture of jute, linen, and mar- 
malade, is the Carse of Gowrie. This fertile 
plain, lying along the banks of the Tay, with 
its waving fields of grain, has been called the 
granary of Scotland. 

Some miles north of Perth, in the valley of 
the Tay, is what is left of the ancient town of 
Dunkeld. It is called the Gate to the High- 
lands because almost every invading army from 
Roman days on, either made, or attempted to 
make, an entrance through the narrow gorge 
beyond Dunkeld. It is a charmingly pic- 
turesque little place with its tall church tower, 
the graceful old stone bridge across the wind- 

170 



PERTH AND DUNKELD 

ing river and the surrounding, tree-covered, 
lofty hills. 

A Columban monastery was established in 
Dunkeld by a Pictish King; and when Ken- 
neth M'Alpin united the Picts and the Scots, 
he brought the relics of St. Columba from 
Iona and made this establishment the head of 
the Celtic church in Scotland, an honour that 
was transferred later to Abernethy and then 
to St. Andrews. After this time the abbacy 
of Dunkeld fell to men of position and wealth. 
One of these lay abbots married a king's daugh- 
ter, and founded the royal Scottish line. 

The cathedral, a successor of the Celtic 
church, met the same fate as the monasteries 
and churches in Perth, and the Abbey of 
Scone. The buttressed tower, which was fin- 
ished in 1501, is still standing. In the church 
is not only the dust of the saintly Columba, 
but also the tomb of the Earl of Buchan, son 
of Robert II, who on account of his cruel and 
wicked manner of life, was called the "Wolf 
of Badenoch." Behind the church are two 
enormous larches from the Tyrol, called the 
"parent larches," because they were the first 
of their family in Scotland. Most attractive 
on account of its literary interest is Birnam 

171 



CHOSEN DAYS IN SCOTLAND 

Hill, rising above the Tay near Dunkeld. The 
Great Birnam Wood has disappeared, but the 
hill is covered with young trees. The soldiers 
led by young Malcolm Canmore and Macduff, 
encamped on Birnam Hill, and cutting the 
boughs, marched in their shelter, as it were, 
toward Macbeth's castle on Dunsinane Hill. 

' ' ' Fear not, till Birnam Wood 
Do come to Dunsinane;' and now a wood 
Comes toward Dunsinane ; — arm, arm, and out. ' ' 

It is said that Queen Elizabeth sent a band 
of English players to Scotland at the request 
of James VI, and that they not only performed 
at Perth, but went north as far as Aberdeen; 
so it is not impossible that Shakespeare may 
have visited Scotland, and perhaps "Macbeth" 
was played upon its own soil. The site of 
Macbeth's castle and of the witches' haunts are 
pointed out with more or less unanimity as to 
the exact locations. 

In the vicinity of Dunkeld on the direct 
route to Inverness, is some of the finest scenery 
in Scotland, and every hill and stream and 
bower has its tradition linking to its natural 
beauty some famous name or circumstance. 
Loch Tay, the source of the River Tay, is sur- 
ra 




View from Cathedral Tower, Dunkeld. 




Loch Tay and Killin. 



PERTH AND DUNKELD 

rounded by mountainous views of rare loveli- 
ness; the village of Pitlochry, in itself attrac- 
tive, is a health resort, and a centre for ram- 
bles full of charm; Blair- Athole is said to offer 
the best shooting and fishing in Scotland. 

An old ballad tells a Lord of Burleigh tale 
of one of the ancient Dukes of Athole whose 
mansion, Blair Castle, is in this little town. 
The nobleman in disguise wooes a lass and 
tests her affection in ways best honoured in the 
breach since Griselda's day. Finding her love 
unshaken he finally makes the overpowering 
disclosure of his identity: 

"Blair in Athole 's mine, Jeanie! 
Little Dunkeld is mine, lassie J 
St. Johnston's bower and Huntingtower— 
And a' that's mine is thine, lassie!" 

A few miles north of Dunkeld is the famous 
Pass of Killiecrankie, narrow and tree-laden, 
with the river Garry foaming along its rocky 
bed at the bottom of the glen. Here Graham 
of Claverhouse, Viscount Dundee, fighting for 
James against King William (1689), fell, shot 
by a silver bullet that the Devil could not turn 
aside, just as he had won a victory over the 
English. He was taken to Blair Castle to die, 

173 



CHOSEN DAYS IN SCOTLAND 

and his men, their leader lost, fled in dismay, 
giving one more blow to the Stuart cause. 

Kingussie and Aviemore are popular resorts 
situated amid the grand scenery of the Gram- 
pians, of the Cairngorm group, and of the 
Monadhliadh range. Professor Blackie's en- 
thusiasm over this region expressed itself in 
some rhymes, "The Praise of Kingussie" in 
which he asks: 

"Tell me, good sir, if you know it, 
Tell me truly, what's the reason 
Why the people to Kingussie 

Shoalwise flock in summer season — M 

and urges: 

"Come with me, ye lowland lubbers, 
Learn to knock at Nature's door; 
Peeping clerks and plodding scholars, 
Start with me from Aviemore. 

Come and learn the joy of working 
In God's vineyard fresh and fair, 

In the place which He appointed 
For your youthful service there. 

The excursions hereabouts include, in addi- 
tion to those alluring by their scenery, trips 
to spots mentioned by Queen Victoria in her 

174 



PERTH AND DUNKELD 

Highland " Journal; " to the obelisk erected to 
the memory of James Macpherson, the trans- 
lator of Ossian; to the parish church of Insh, 
and to Cluny's Cave. The church looks down 
upon the Spey from a knoll called "Tom 
Eunan, ' ' by which degenerate name Adam- 
nan, the first author in Scotland's literary 
annals, would have difficulty in recognising 
himself as the patron saint of the place where a 
religious edifice has stood since the sixth cen- 
tury. A bronze bell in the church is declared 
to date back to the Culdees. Even if it does 
not belong to a time so remote it is known to 
have been long enough in its present station 
to love the spot, and when once it was stolen, 
it rang plaintively, "Tom Eunan, Tom 
Eunan," undoubtedly to the discomfiture, if 
not the betrayal of its captors. In some 
fashion it was brought back, ringing more 
and more merrily as it grew "warm," and 
rousing the parish folk to welcome it and to 
chain it so that it might stray no more. And 
there is the chain to-day to prove the story. 

Cluny's Cave, aloft on the precipitous heights 
of Craigdhu, remains to-day to bear witness to 
the fidelity of one of the Macpherson clan to 
its head in the days of the ' ' Forty-five. ' ' Cluny 

175 



CHOSEN DAYS IN SCOTLAND 

Macpherson was pursued by the soldiery, and 
his followers dug out this cave as a hiding-place 
for him, putting the earth into the loch below 
that it might not betray their work. A clans- 
man brought food to the concealed chief at the 
risk of his life, and his devotion is acknowl- 
edged even to-day, for when one of his de- 
scendants dies, the chief of the Macphersons 
must send his piper to play a lament at the 
funeral. It is a story of Highland ingenuity, 
of Highland courage, of Highland devotion, 
and of Highland gratitude. 



176 



CHAPTER X 

ABERDEEN, THE CITY OF BON ACCORD 

IT would be difficult to take a route in Scot- 
land that did not pass through more than 
one place of note, and so it is in going 
from Perth to Aberdeen. The line runs near 
the magnificent old Glamis Castle, a splendid 
example of Scottish baronial architecture, and 
mysterious with secret passages and stairways 
and unexpected nooks and recesses. Malcolm 
II, who was fatally wounded on Hunters' Hill 
nearby, by a band of assassins, died in the 
castle. Scott, who visited it, wrote: "I hap- 
pened to pass a night in this magnificent old 
baronial castle. The hoary old pile contains 
much in its appearance, and in the traditions 
connected with it, impressive to the imagina- 
tion. It was the scene of the murder of a 
King. It also contains a curious monument 
of the peril of feudal times, being a secret 
chamber, the entrance to which, by the law or 
custom of the family, must only be known to 

177 



CHOSEN DAYS IN SCOTLAND 

three persons at once, viz. , the Earl of Strath- 
more, his heir-apparent, and any third person 
whom they may take into their confi- 
dence." 

Arbroath, on the coast, is making some pre- 
tensions nowadays to being a watering-place. 
This is possibly as useful though not so digni- 
fied a role as that played by the village in the 
twelfth century when William the Lion 
founded at "Aberbrothok" a monastery than 
which but one in Scotland, Holyrood, was 
more richly endowed. By papal privilege its 
abbots were allowed to wear the mitre, and it 
numbered among its dignitaries at least one 
Cardinal, that Beaton who watched George 
Wishart burn below the castle windows at St. 
Andrews. William the Lion was fond of a 
certain Red Castle, whose ruins stand not far 
away from Arbroath, and he was buried in 
the abbey that he dedicated to St. Thomas a 
Becket. 

This region forms the background of "The 
Antiquary." For other than Scott lovers, the 
coast is best known by Southey's poem, "The 
Inchcape Rock," which relates the punishment 
"fitting the crime" that befel Sir Ralph the 
rover. 

178 



ABERDEEN, THE CITY OF BON ACCORD 

"The holy Abbot of Aberbrothok 
Had placed that bell on the Inchcape Rock; 
On a buoy in the storm it floated and swung, 
And over the waves its warning rung. 

Sir Ralph, walking the deck of his pirate 
craft, felt in jovial mood and disposed to prac- 
tical joking: 

"His eye was on the bell and float: 
Quoth he, 'My men, put out the boat, 
And row me to the Inchcape Rock, 
And I'll plague the priest of Aberbrothok.' 

' ' The boat is lowered, the boatmen row, 
And to the Inchcape rock they go; 
Sir Ralph bent over from the boat, 
And cut the warning bell from the float. 

"Down sank the bell with a gurgling sound; 
The bubbles rose and burst around. 
Quoth Sir Ralph, 'The next who comes to the rock 
Will not bless the Abbot of Aberbrothok. ' ' ' 

Away sailed Sir Ralph on plunder bent. 
After many a day, he once again approached 
the Scottish shore. Through haze and dark- 
ness the vessel drove upon the land. 

" 'Canst hear,' said one, 'the breakers roar? 
For yonder, methinks, should be the shore. 
Now where we are I cannot tell, 
But I wish we could hear the Inchcape bell. ' 
179 



CHOSEN DAYS IN SCOTLAND 

"They hear no sound; the swell is strong; 
Though the wind hath fallen, they drift along; 
Till the vessel strikes with a shivering shock, — 
O, Christ ! It is the Inchcape Rock ! ' ' 

Stonehaven is another watering-place of 
Scotland's east coast. On a bold headland a 
little south of it are the ruins of Dunnottar 
Castle, reared defiantly against the sky. This 
was built in 1392 by the Keiths, long Earls 
Marischal of Scotland until they lost the office 
because of their adherence to the Stuart cause. 
It must have been almost unassailable by the 
close-quarter war machinery of its prime, for 
on three sides the sea washed the promontory 
and on the fourth a deep ravine nearly severed 
it from the mainland. Nevertheless it changed 
hands more than once. At one time the Eng- 
lish captured it, to lose it again to the personal 
daring of Wallace; and after the battle of 
Dunbar, Cromwell's soldiers starved its garri- 
son into surrender. It was during this siege 
that the "Honours of Scotland" were so nearly 
lost to the English. They had been sent to 
Dunnottar for safe-keeping, and when the 
lowering larder prophesied surrender, their 
rescue became a matter of critical anxiety to 
their guardians. By the address of Mrs. 

180 



ABERDEEN, THE CITY OF BON ACCORD 

Granger, wife of the minister of Kineff, a 
nearby village, they were hidden in bundles 
of household goods which she was permitted 
to carry through the English lines. They 
were buried under the pulpit of the church at 
Kineff until the Restoration, when they were 
taken to their present shelter in Edinburgh 
Castle. Their concealment after the Union, 
and their disclosure more than a century later 
has been told in another chapter. 

Dunnottar's dungeon was the instrument of 
unspeakable cruelties during its three centuries 
of miscalled usefulness. In this twentieth cen- 
tury, when man looks upon man as his fellow, 
not his foe, and when even international peace 
is no longer a dream of the visionary, it is al- 
most incredible that in 1685, one hundred and 
sixty-seven Covenanters, men, women, and 
children, were cast into this hole to live if they 
could or die if they must, the jest of their cap- 
tors and the sport of their jailers. In Dun- 
nottar churchyard stands the Martyrs' Monu- 
ment erected to their memory. It was upon 
the inscription of this monument that the 
original of "Old Mortality,'' that Paterson 
who loved a stone better than his wife, was at 
work when Scott discovered him. 

181 



CHOSEN DAYS IN SCOTLAND 

Aberdonians think of their city by the open- 
hearted name, "Bon Accord," which is the 
town's motto. Aberdeen has long been called 
the Granite City, and its splendid Union 
Street bears evidence to the appropriateness of 
the name in the stately granite buildings that 
line it on each side. It has the reputation of 
being the cleanest city in the United Kingdom, 
and it is easy to believe it when, after a shower, 
the very paving stones of this mile-long street 
shine in the sunlight as if set with sparkling 
jewels. In new Aberdeen the main streets are 
broad and the light grey buildings give a won- 
derfully cheerful effect, but the old and the 
new portions of the city overlap, and on some 
of the narrow side streets are old houses with 
outside stairs and ancient gables and quaint 
corners, which carry one back almost to the 
Middle Ages. In one of these streets is a fine 
old mansion where the young Duke of Cum- 
berland lodged for six weeks before the battle 
of Culloden. The citizens suffered great in- 
dignities from the soldiers of the Duke's army 
who had no regard for their rights or their 
possessions. 

In the old town is King's College, striking 
in architecture, and replete with historical sug- 

182 



ABERDEEN, THE CITY OF BON ACCORD 

gestion. It was founded in 1495 by a Roman 
Catholic prelate. It is a dignified building 
with a graceful crown-topped tower. It has a 
rare library, and a fine chapel, famed for its 
splendid carvings in oak. For a long time 
there was rivalry between King's College and 
Marischal College, founded in 1593 by George 
Keith, fifth Earl Marischal and a Protestant. 
By the nineteenth century old scores were for- 
gotten, however, and in 1860 the two were 
united and called the University of Aberdeen. 
The present home of Marischal College, in the 
centre of the town, is a splendid building 
erected within the last twenty years, which is 
said to be second only to the Palace of the Es- 
corial as the largest granite building in the 
world. The magnificent tower rises to a 
height of two hundred and fifty feet. Near 
the entrance a stone, transferred from the 
original building, bears the motto of the Ma- 
rischals: 

"They haif said; 
Quhat say thay; 
Lat thame say, 

which is thought to refer to the fact that the 
Marischals accepted a grant of church lands 

183 



CHOSEN DAYS IN SCOTLAND 

which made them unpopular and caused much 
comment. There were two hundred and fifty 
scholarships in the University before Carnegie 
bestowed his great benefaction. Now educa- 
tion there is free to all. Near King's College 
is the old Cathedral of St. Machar, of an im- 
posing dignity with its low massive towers. 
It was formerly a much larger building than 
it is now, but the Covenanters did their usual 
best to wreck it, and Cromwell's soldiers used 
part of the church for a quarry for stone with 
which to build a citadel. Tradition has it 
that the original church here was founded by 
St. Machar, a disciple of St. Columba, but the 
present cathedral was built in the time of 
David I. 

The city has several beautiful parks, the in- 
evitable golf links along the beach, and all 
Deeside for a playground and health resort. 

The famous Auld Brig o' Balgownie, built 
in 1320, is a single narrow arch spanning the 
Don at a beautiful wooded portion of the 
river. 

Lord Byron, who spent a part of his boy- 
hood with his mother at 64, Broad Street, men- 
tions it in the following lines from "Don 

Juan:" 

184 



ABERDEEN, THE CITY OF BON ACCORD 

'"As Auld Lang Syne' brings Scotland one and all, 

Scotch plaids, Scotch snoods, the blue hills, and clear 
streams, 
The Dee, the Don, Balgownie's Brig's black wall, 
All my boy feelings, all my gentle dreams 

Of what I then dreamt, clothed in their own pall 
Like Banquo's offspring; — floating past me seems 
My childhood in this childishness of mind: 

I care not — 'tis a glimpse of 'Auld Lang Syne.' 

A proverb which Byron took unto himself as 
an only son, threatens the destruction of the 
bridge. 

"Brig o' Balgownie, black's you' wa' ; 

Wi' a wife's ae son and a mear's ae foal 
Doun ye shall fa' !" 

Aberdeen lies on the North Sea, between the 
mouths of the Dee and the Don, and, like 
most Scottish towns, has its noteworthy his- 
tory, though it is not so exciting as those of 
some of the towns farther south. Its earliest 
charter dates from William the Lion in 1178. 

The Aberdonians played their part well in 
the national warfare. The most notable event 
fehat took place in this region was the battle 
of Harlaw (nineteen miles distant) in which 
fought Lowlander and Highlander, the civil- 
ised and the uncivilised of that time. Donald, 

185 



CHOSEN DAYS IN SCOTLAND 

Lord of the Isles, of independent position in 
the Hebrides, claimed the Earldom of Ross. 
To his support came "Macleans of Mull, . . . 
Macleods of Skye, Macdonalds from the Rough 
Bounds, Camerons from Lochaber, Clan 
Chattan in all its septs, ' ' and they burned In- 
verness and advanced toward Aberdeen. Out 
from the city swept the burghers, and from all 
parts of the shire gathered the county folk, 
and they met, to Donald's loss, in the battle 
of Harlaw. 

"In July, on St. James's even, 
That four-and-twenty dismal day, 

Twelve hundred, ten score and eleven, 
Of years since Christ, the sooth to say, 
Men will remember as they may, 

When thus the verity they knaw, 

And mony a one will mourn for aye 
The bloody battle of Harlaw. ' ' 

The Provost of Aberdeen, Sir Robert David- 
son, was slain in this battle. This misfortune 
gave rise to a law that while in office the Pro- 
vost of Aberdeen might not leave the city 
limits, a law which holds good even to the 
present day. Aberdeen remained Roman 
Catholic long after most of the other cities of 
Scotland had adopted the Reformed faith. 

186 



ABERDEEN, THE CITY OF BON ACCORD 

Queen Mary stayed here when she was on her 
way north with her brother, the Earl of 
Moray, to chastise the insubordinate Huntly. 

As is natural from its situation, fishing is 
one of the industries of Aberdeen, and ship- 
building is another. That breakfast friend, 
the Findon haddock, often called in Scotland 
" Finnan haddy, " had its origin in the little 
village of Findon, a few miles south of Aber- 
deen. 

The Aberdonians have the reputation of be- 
ing as firm and hard as their native granite, 
but, though they are doubtless as difficult to 
move from their chosen path as are other Scots- 
men, they are most hospitable and cordial to 
strangers. 



187 



CHAPTER XI 

THE VALLEY OF THE DEE 

TO the west of Aberdeen along the course 
of the river Dee, is a charming stretch 
of country which grows increasingly 
beautiful toward the heart of the Aberdeen- 
shire Highlands. Deeside is a picturesque and 
romantic region, a resort of royalty centuries 
ago as well as now. Its castles and the events 
which have taken place there, have inspired 
almost as many ballads as have the vales of 
Tweed and Yarrow. But whereas those south- 
ern valleys lie amid gentle prospects, Deeside, 
after a few pleasant miles from Aberdeen, 
goes straight into the wilder scenery of the 
Highlands. Not far from the city is Blair's 
College, a famous Roman Catholic institution, 
which possesses a portrait of Cardinal Beaton 
and one of the few (some say there are only 
two) authentic portraits of Mary, Queen of 
Scots. Farther along on the other side of the 
river is the Roman Camp, called the "Nor- 
man Dikes. ' ' 

188 



THE VALLEY OF THE DEE 

About twelve miles from Aberdeen stands 
Drum Castle, a feudal stronghold said to have 
been founded by William the Lion at the end 
of the twelfth century. In 1324 Robert the 
Bruce bestowed a grant of the Drum forest on 
William de Irvine. The charter is still in ex- 
istence and the property has remained in the 
Irvine family ever since. The Irvines figure 
among the sturdy warriors of Scottish history, 
one of them having fallen at Harlaw and 
another at the battle of Pinkie. 

A naive ballad tells how a Laird of Drum 
married a shepherd lass, much to the displeas- 
ure of his brother and kinsfolk, and brought 
her home to be the Lady of Drum. To the 
remonstrances of his brother the laird made 
reply: 

Now, haud your tongue, my brother John, 

What needs it thee offend, O? 
I've married a wife to work and win — 

Ye've married one to spend, O. 

"The first time that I married a wife 
She was far abune my degree, O : 
She wadna hae walked to the yetts o' Drum 

But the pearlin abune her bree, O. 
And I durstna gang in the room where she was 
But my hat below my knee, O. 
189 



CHOSEN DAYS IN SCOTLAND 

"He has ta'exi her by the milk-white hand, 
And led her in himsel', O; 
In through ha's and in through bowers — 
And ye 're welcome, Leddy Drum, O!" 

There was a hereditary blood-feud between 
the Irvines and the Keiths of Dunnottar, and 
a dark story is told of an attachment between 
an Irvine daughter and a Keith son, which, 
being discovered, resulted in the tragic death 
of the lover. Some generations later the feud 
was peacefully ended by the marriage of 
Elizabeth Keith to an Irvine. 

Four miles north of Banchory, a pretty sum- 
mer resort a short distance from Drum, is the 
Howe of Corrichie at the foot of the Hill of 
Fair. This was where Queen Mary's forces, 
two thousand in number, met the disaffected 
Earl of Huntly and his five hundred men. 
Huntly died on the field of battle. Two of 
his sons were captured, and one of them, Sir 
John Gordon, who had the presumption to 
love Queen Mary, was executed in Aberdeen 
three days later. It is said that James Stuart, 
Mary's half-brother, later the Earl of Moray, 
forced the Queen to witness the death of the 
man who was devoted to her. At this time 
Mary had been in Scotland less than a year, 

190 



THE VALLEY OF THE DEE 

and her object in going north was to reduce 
the turbulent noble, Huntly, to submission. 
Beyond Banchory the railroad makes a de- 
tour to pass Lumphanan where Macbeth, in 
1056, met with the defeat which is commem- 
orated by Macbeth 's Cairn. 

' ' Over the Mounth they chased him there 
Intil the woods of Lumphanan. 



' ' This Macbeth then slew they there 
In the wood of Lumphanan. 

It seems only fair to Macbeth to say that, 
according to history, during his reign of sev- 
enteen years he was an "able and popular 
King. " It is also recorded that he was kind 
to the poor and generous to the church, and 
Wyntoun chronicles that in his reign there 
was 

"Great plenty 
Abounding baith on land and sea. * ' 

At Aboyne, another favourite summer re- 
sort, is Aboyne Castle, the seat of the Marquis 
of Huntly, the head of the Clan of Gordon. 
Much of it is of recent date, but the west wing 
was built in the latter half of the seventeenth 
century. The Huntlys were one of the most 

191 



CHOSEN DAYS IN SCOTLAND 

powerful families of the north, and they fig- 
ured prominently in Scottish history. The 
head of the family in this region is known as 
' * The Cock o' the North." 

At Ballater, another popular resort and an 
admirably convenient centre for excursions, 
the railway line ends, nine miles from Bal- 
moral. The writer has a vivid recollection of 
bicycling over those miles many years ago on 
a September day when the famous Braemar 
Gathering was held at Balmoral for the pleas- 
ure of Queen Victoria. There was "Queen's 
weather, ' ' brilliant sunshine driving the clouds 
from the sky when the Queen's carriage drove 
up and the turbaned Indian servants who al- 
ways accompanied her, assisted her to her chair 
in the pavilion erected for the royal family. 
She walked rather feebly, being then eighty 
years old. The other "royalties" present were 
the Duke and Duchess of Connaught, Princess 
Beatrice of Battenberg, Prince George and the 
Princess May (now George V and Queen Mary) 
and their children, who were then very young. 
The entire countryside, gentle and noble, were 
gathered around the royal enclosure before 
which the sports were to take place. 

The Gathering was opened by the marching 

192 




Chiefs of Scottish Clans. 



THE VALLEY OF THE DEE 

in of the clans, each clan being led by its chief. 
The Marquis of Huntly preceded the Gor- 
dons, and the clan of the Farquharsons was 
also in evidence. The men were all dressed in 
kilts of the clan tartan, and stepped spiritedly 
to the sound of the bagpipes, their sporrans 
swaying from side to side. There is a certain 
swing and freedom of movement in a body of 
kilted Highlanders marching to the sound of 
the bagpipes that is seen nowhere else. After 
this " grand entrance" followed the games, 
putting the stone, throwing the hammer, 
throwing the caber. Then there was a sword 
dance over crossed swords lying on the ground, 
while a lament was played on the bagpipes. 
Doubtless the skirl of the pipes thrills the 
heart of the Highlander, but to the uniniti- 
ated a long lament played on those same bag- 
pipes makes him feel that death would be a 
happy end! At the close of the afternoon's 
events prizes were given and the clans re- 
formed and marched away. 

During a pause in the games a pretty tab- 
leau took place on the grass in front of the 
royal pavilion. Prince George and his little 
daughter, who was dressed in white, stood talk- 
ing together. The little one faced him and 

193 



CHOSEN DAYS IN SCOTLAND 

they were having some fun with one another. 
His manner toward her was charming, and he 
seemed both fond and proud of her. 

A few miles beyond Ballater, where the 
scenery becomes entirely Highland in charac- 
ter, lies Ballatrich, where Byron was sent when 
a boy to recover from the effects of a fever. 
He was always influenced by the impressions 
made on him by the mountains. Here he met 
the Highland Mary who inspired him with a 
remarkable devotion which he describes in 
' ' Hours of Idleness. ' ' 

"When I roved, a young Highlander, o'er the dark heath, 

And climbed thy steep summit, O Morven of snow! 
To gaze on the torrent that thundered beneath, 

Or the mist of the tempest that gathered below; 
Untutored by science, a stranger to fear, 

And rude as the rocks where my infancy grew, 
No feeling, save one, to my bosom was dear, 

Need I say, my sweet Mary, 'twas centred in you? 

"Yet it could not be love, for I knew not the name — 
What passion can dwell in the heart of a child? 
But still I perceive an emotion the same 

As I felt when a boy, on the crag-covered wild; 
One image alone on my bosom impressed, 

I loved my bleak regions, nor panted for new; 
And few were my wants, for my wishes were blessed, 
And pure were my thoughts, for my soul was with you. 

194 



THE VALLEY OF THE DEE 

"I crossed with the dawn, with my dog as my guide, 

From mountain to mountain I bounded along; 
I breasted the billows of Dee's rushing tide, 

And heard at a distance the Highlander's song. 
At the eve on my heath-covered couch of repose, 

No dreams, save of Mary, were spread to my view; 
And warm to the skies my devotions arose, 

For the first of my prayers was a blessing on you. ' ' 

On the road from Ballater to Balmoral is 
Abergeldie Castle. Its crow-stepped gables 
give it an appearance of antiquity, and its 
ancient keep is dark with the haunting cruel- 
ties of the Middle Ages. Balmoral, its near 
neighbour, was first leased and then bought 
by Prince Albert, and, when his family filled 
to overflowing the castle which he designed 
and built, Abergeldie was leased from its own- 
ers, the Gordons, to house the royal guests. 
Balmoral is of light grey granite. Several 
turrets soften its severe lines, and at the east- 
ern end there is a high tower. The castle has 
a beautiful setting in a natural park on the 
river Orr, amid surrounding mountains. 
Prince Albert left the property to Queen Vic- 
toria who loved the freedom and the solitude 
of this Highland home. She used to drive 
about in a pony-carriage, and often talked with 

195 



CHOSEN DAYS IN SCOTLAND 

the country people. She frequently went into 
their humble cottages to visit, but there is 
nothing humble about the poorest Scot, and 
sometimes the housewives would refer to 
Her Majesty as the "old wifle. " 

The simple life of the royal family at Bal- 
moral has been told entertainingly by Queen 
Victoria herself in her Highland "Journal." 

At the south of Balmoral, rising to a height 
of 3, 786 feet, stands Lochnagar, which some- 
times has snow in its crevasses throughout the 
summer. From its summit is one of the most 
extensive views in Scotland. Byrcn has sung 
its beauties: 

' ' Away, ye gay landscape, ye gardens of roses ! 

In you let the minions of luxury rove ; 
Restore me the rocks, where the snow-flake reposes, 

Though still they are sacred to freedom and love: 
Yet, Caledonia, beloved are thy mountains, 
Round their white summits though elements war; 
Though cataracts foam ' stead of smooth-flowing fountains, 

I sigh for the valley of dark Loch na Garr. 

"Ah! there my young footsteps in infancy wander 'd; 
My cap was the bonnet, my cloak was the plaid; 
On chieftains long perish 'd my memory ponder 'd, 

As daily I strove through the pine-cover 'd glade: 
I sought not my home till the day's dying glory 
Gave place to the rays of the bright polar star ; 

196 



THE VALLEY OF THE DEE 

For fancy was cheer 'd by traditional story, 

Disclosed by the natives of dark Loch na Garr. 

' ' Shades of the dead ! have I not heard your voices 

Rise on the night-rolling breath of the gale? 
Surely the soul of the hero rejoices, 

And rides on the wind o'er his own Highland vale. 
Round Loch na Garr while the stormy mist gathers, 

Winter presides in his cold icy car; 
Clouds there encircle the forms of my fathers, 

They dwell in the tempests of dark Loch na Garr. 

' ' Ill-starred though brave, did no visions foreboding 

Tell you that fate had forsaken your cause? 
Ah! were you destined to die at Culloden? 

Victory crown 'd not your fall with applause. 
Still were you happy in death's earthly slumber! 

You rest with your clan in the caves of Braemar; 
The pibroch resounds to the piper's loud number 

Your deeds on the echoes of dark Loch na Garr. 

' ' Years have rolled on, Loch na Garr, since I left you, 

Years must elapse ere I tread you again; 
Nature of verdure and flowers has bereft you, 

Yet still are you dearer than Albion's plain. 
England, thy beauties are tame and domestic 

To one who has roved o'er the mountains afar: 
O for the crags that are wild and majestic! 

The steep frowning glories of dark Loch na Garr ! ' ' 

In the vicinity of Lochnagar are Lochs 
Muick and Dubh (Black Loch) both walled 

197 



CHOSEN DAYS IN SCOTLAND 

about with precipices. The view from the 
summit of Lochnagar extends as far as the 
Tay on the south and the Moray Firth on the 
north. 

The road to Braemar runs along the river 
through a charming bit of wooded valley. 
Retaining much of its original appearance is 
Braemar Castle, built by the Earl of Mar in 
1628. Nearly a century later many Jacobite 
meetings were held in it. Near Braemar for- 
merly stood Kindrochit Castle, built by Mal- 
colm Canmore. He it was, tradition says, who 
instituted the Highland Gathering, now fa- 
mous as the Braemar Gathering, which takes 
place annually in September, in Princess Royal 
Park. On entering Braemar the road passes 
a hotel called the Invercauld Arms, in which a 
brass tablet records it as the spot on which in 
September, 1715, the Earl of Mar raised the 
Standard, proclaimed James VIII of Scotland 
as King, and sent forth the Fiery Cross 1 to 
summon all Jacobite adherents to his aid. 
Mar was a man of words rather than deeds, 
which caused this Jacobite rising to end in 
failure. 



1 Whenever a chief needed help or any warlike adventure was 
afoot the fiery cross was carried as a summons from clan to clan. 

198 




H 

t/2 
«! 

o 

« 
o 

PQ 



THE VALLEY OF THE DEE 

A well known song was composed to cele- 
brate the event. 

THE STANDARD ON THE BRAES O' MAR 

"The standard on the braes o' Mar 

Is up and streaming rarely; 
The gathering pipe on Lochnagar 

Is sounding long and clearly. 
The Highlandmen frae hill and glen, 
In martial hue, wi' bonnets blue, 
Wi' belted plaids and burnished blades, 

Are coming late and early. 

"Wha' wadna join our noble chief, 

The Drummond and Glengarry? 

Macgregor, Murray, Rollo, Keith, 

Panmure and gallant Harry, 
Macdonalds' men, Clanranald's men, 
Mackenzie's men, Macgilvray's men, 
Strathallan's men, the Lowland men 
Of Callander and Airlie. ■ 

"Fy, Donald, up and let's awa' ; 

We canna longer parley; 
When Jamie's back is at the sea, 

The lad we loe sae dearly — 
We'll go, we'll go, and meet the foe, 
And fling the plaid and swing the blade, 
And forward dash, and hack and smash, 

And fley the German carlie. ' ' l 



1 " German carlie" refers to George I. 

199 



CHOSEN DAYS IN SCOTLAND 

Many delightful excursions may be made 
from Braemar, which is the centre of this 
Highland region and is thronged with visitors 
in the summer. Near by is the group of Cairn- 
gorm mountains, of which one of the peaks, 
Ben Muichdhui, 4,244 feet, is next in height 
to Ben Nevis, with its altitude of 4,406 feet. 
Ben Muichdhui and Cairngorm are favourite 
peaks with mountain climbers, but neither of 
them has so extensive a view as is visible from 
Lochnagar. For good pedestrians there is a 
rather wild and somewhat dangerous but re- 
warding walk among the mountains across to 
Aviemore, which is on the Highland railway 
line left at Dunkeld. Lovers of coaching will 
delight in a trip from Braemar over the Spittal 
of Glenshee. The road runs through wild and 
desolate mountain scenery down to the more 
gently picturesque surroundings of Blairgowrie 
or, farther on, of Dunkeld. 



200 



CHAPTER XII 

A GROUP OF CASTLES 

IN order to understand why almost every 
foot of Scotland has historic interest it is 
necessary to realise the comparatively 
small area of the country. In a space that, 
roughly, may be compared to New York State 
east of Syracuse were confined the activities 
of fighting individuals, of warring clans, of 
struggling races. Here were the packed houses 
of the townsfolk, the keeps of the barons, the 
estates of the large owners, and the lands of 
the ecclesiastics. 

In the fourteen hundred years and more of 
the country's known history — ten times as long 
a period as the history of the United States — 
there have been many polities and many domi- 
nations, and each left its mark not only on the 
life and speech and laws and thought of the 
people, but in such visible and tangible ex- 
pressions as buildings, and in such romantic 
memories as are kept alive by monuments on 

201 



CHOSEN DAYS IN SCOTLAND 

battle-fields, and by ballads on the lips of 
singers. 

In the country between Deeside and the 
Moray Firth, a square whose sides measure not 
more than thirty or thirty-five miles, the 
ground is dotted with storied castles and spots 
where exciting action has taken place. An ex- 
cellent road for motoring or driving goes north- 
west from Aboyne to Glenkindie. Here among 
the trees are a few ruins, all that is left of 
Towie Castle, which was once bravely defended 
by Lady Forbes in the absence of her husband. 
It was in 1571 when Edom or Adam Gordon, 
as deputy-lieutenant of his brother, the Mar- 
quis of Huntly, was heading the party in the 
north of Scotland in behalf of the imprisoned 
Queen Mary, in opposition to the king's party 
or that of her infant son James VI. Gordon 
was at feud with Clan Forbes, and in the ab- 
sence of the owner of Towie Castle, the chief 
seat of the Forbeses, he sent a party under 
Captain Ker to reduce it. In the famous old 
ballad which describes the episode Gordon 
himself is named as the leader of the raid. 
The ' ' House o' the Rodes, ' ' a keep in Berwick- 
shire, is said to have been introduced by south- 
ern reciters in place of Towie House. 

202 



A GROUP OF CASTLES 

EDOM O' GORDON 

"It fell about the Martinmas, 

When the wind blew shrill and cauld, 
Said Edom o' Gordon to his men, 
'We maun draw to a hauld. 

"'And whatna hauld sail we draw till, 
My merry men and me? 
We will gae to the house o' the Rodes, 
To see that fair ladye. ' 

' ' The ladye stude on her castle wa, 
Beheld baith dale and doun; 
There she was ware of a host o' men 
Cam riding toward the toun. 2 

'"O see ye not, my merrye men a', 

see ye not what I see? 
Methinks I see a host o' men — 

1 marvel wha they be. ' 

"She ween'd 3 it had been her ain dear lord 
As he came riding hame; 
It was the traitor, Edom o' Gordon, 
Wha reck'd nae sin nor shame. 

' ' The ladye ran to her tower head, 
As fast as she could hie, 
To see if, by her fair speeches, 
She could wi' him agree. 



Stronghold. 2 Residence. 3 Supposed. 

203 



CHOSEN DAYS IN SCOTLAND 

"As sune as he saw the ladye fair, 
And her yetts x a' lockit fast, 
He fell into a rage o' wrath, 
And his look was all aghast. 
• •••••• 

1 ' ' Gie owre your house, ye ladye fair, 
Gie owre your house to me; 
Or I sail burn yoursel therein, 
But and your babies three. ' 

"'I winna gie owre, ye fause Gordon, 
To nae sic traitor as thee; 
And if ye burn my ain dear babes, 
My lord sail make ye dree. ' 

• •••••• 

* ' She stude upon her castle wa, 
And let twa bullets flee; 
She mist that bluidy butcher's heart, 
And only razed his knee. 

' ' ' Set fire to the house ! ' quo the fause Gordon, 
All wude 2 wi' dule 3 and ire; 
'Fause ladye ye sail rue that shot, 
As ye burn in the fire. ' 

• •••••• 

"O then outspak her youngest son, 
Sat on the nurse's knee; 
Says, 'Mither, dear, gie owre this house, 
For the reek 4 it smithers me. ' 



1 Gates. 2 Mad. 3 Foreboding. 4 Smoke. 

204 



A GROUP OF CASTLES 

'"I wad gie a' my gowd, my bairn, 
Sae wad I a' my fee, 
For ae blast o' the wastlin wind, 
To blaw the reek frae thee ! ' 

"O then outspak her dochter dear — 
She was baith jimp 1 and sma — 
'O row me in a pair o' sheets, 
And tow me owre the wa. ' 

"They row'd her in a pair o' sheets, 
And tow'd her owre the wa; 
But on the point o' Gordon's spear 
She gat a deadly fa. 

"O bonnie, bonnie was her mouth, 
And cherry were her cheeks; 
And clear, clear was her yellow hair, 
Whereon the red bluid dreeps. 

"Then wi' his spear he turn'd her owre 

gin her face was wan ! 

He said, 'You are the first that e'er 

1 wish'd alive again. ' 

"But when the ladye saw the fire 
Come flaming owre her head, 
She wept, and kiss'd her children twain, 
Said, ' Bairns, we been but dead. ' 

"O then he 2 spied her ain dear lord, 
As he came owre the lea; 



Slender. 2 Gordon. 

205 



CHOSEN DAYS IN SCOTLAND 

He * saw his castle a' in a lowe, 
Sae far as he could see. 



"Then some they rade, and some they ran, 
Fu' fast out owre the bent; 
But ere the foremost could win up, 
Baith ladye and babes were brent. 2 

"He wrang his hands, he rent his hair, 

And wept in teenfu' mood; 
'Ah, traitors ! for this cruel deed, 

Ye sail weep tears o' bluid. ' 

"And after the Gordon he has gane, 
Sae fast as he might drie, 
And soon i' the Gordon's foul heart's bluid 
He's wroken 3 his dear ladye. 

"And mony were the mudie men 
Lay gasping on the green; 
For o' fifty men the Gordon brocht, 
There were but five gaed hame. ' ' 

A little farther along the road are the Kil- 
drummie castles, ancient and modern. The 
light-coloured new structure stands in strong 
contrast to the substantial grey ruin, of which 
little is known except that it was originally a 

1 Forbes. 2 Burnt. 3 Revenged. 

206 



A GROUP OF CASTLES 

round fortress tower, a hundred and fifty feet 
high. It belonged to Robert Bruce and was 
one of his last strongholds. When he seemed 
almost at the end of his resources he sent to 
Kildrummie Castle his wife with the Countess 
of Buchan and other ladies, and put them in 
the care of his brave young brother, Nigel 
Bruce. It was the hereditary right of the 
MacdufTs to place the crown on the heads of 
the Scottish kings at the coronation ceremony. 
When Robert Bruce was crowned at Scone, 
the Countess of Buchan, being a Macduff, in 
the absence of any other member of her family 
placed the golden circlet on the king's head, 
and that, though her husband was a deadly 
enemy of the Bruce. The castle made a val- 
iant resistance, but was taken. Though the 
queen and the other ladies escaped they were 
afterward captured and taken to England, 
where the Countess of Buchan was, at her un- 
forgiving husband's request, kept in a cage in 
Berwick Castle for seven years. 

In this same locality is Druminnor House 
which was the seat of the Forbes clan. At 
one time, the story goes, a peace was made 
between them and their mortal foes, the Gor- 
dons, in token of which fifteen of the Gordons 

207 



CHOSEN DAYS IN SCOTLAND 

came to dine at Druminnor House. The 
Forbes chief, not trusting his former enemies, 
arranged that each of his guests should be 
seated between two of his own men. They 
were instructed that, if he thought that an at- 
tack was brewing, he would stroke his beard 
as a signal for each to slay his neighbour. In- 
advertently he raised his hand to his beard, 
and the Gordons were instantly assassinated. 
A like story with Gordons as the assailants is 
told of Craig Hall, not far away. 

Before leaving this part of the country, a 
flashlight glance up the coast sees Peterhead, 
a shipping town of no especial interest except 
that it is the most easterly in Scotland. Be- 
yond it is Inverugie, where once stood an an- 
cient castle, from the fourteenth century a 
possession of the Keiths. The greatest inter- 
est attaching to the stronghold is the prophecy 
made by Thomas the Rhymer concerning one 
of its stones: 

"As lang's this stane stands on this croft 
The name o' Keith shall be alaft, 
But when this stane begins to fa' 
The name o' Keith shall wear awa'." 

It is said that the stone was removed in 1763, 

208 



A GROUP OF CASTLES 

and the last Keith died in 1788. Strange, 
those prophecies of Thomas the Rhymer! 

The railway from Aberdeen to Inverness 
passes through Huntly, where is the ruin of 
a venerable castle belonging to the Gordon 
family. This castle was the scene of one of 
the most touching stories connected with the 
great clan feuds. On one of the fierce raids of 
the Huntlys they killed so many of their rival 
clan that they brought home more than a 
hundred children whom they had made or- 
phans. These children were kept crowded 
together like animals, and like animals fed 
from a trough! This was the castle to which 
Queen Mary was invited when she made her 
northern tour to pacify Huntly, and it is 
thought that her refusal to visit it still further 
alienated the already disaffected noble, and 
perhaps led to the battle of Corrichie. 

A little farther on, near Fochabers, is Gor- 
don Castle, the magnificent seat of the Duke 
of Richmond and Gordon. Its original square 
tower is still standing, but is supplemented by 
a handsome, wide-spreading, comparatively 
modern building. One of the safeguards of 
the keep was its situation, for it was surrounded 
by a morass impassable except over a cause- 

209 



CHOSEN DAYS IN SCOTLAND 

way. "The Gudeman o' the Bog" was the 
title bestowed upon the owner of this inhos- 
pitable habitation by his probably equally in- 
hospitable neighbours. The swamp now serves 
the better purpose of sustaining in abundant 
freshness, the trees of an especially beautiful 
park. After writing "Castle-Gordon" Burns 
composed a poem whose last stanza follows: 

"Wildly here without control, 
Nature reigns and rules the whole; 

In that sober pensive mood, 
Dearest to the feeling soul, 

She plants the forest, pours the flood: 
Life's poor day I'll musing rave, 
And find at night a sheltering cave, 
Where waters flow and wild woods wave, 

By bonny Castle-Gordon. 

His "Young Highland Rover" lived at 
Castle-Gordon. 

' ' Loud blaw the frosty breezes, 

The snaws the mountains cover; 
Like winter on me seizes, 

Since my young Highland rover 

Far wanders nations over. 
Where'er he go, where'er he stray, 

May Heaven be his warden; 
Return him safe to fair Strathspey, 

And bonny Castle-Gordon! 
£10 



A GROUP OF CASTLES 

"The trees, now naked groaning, 
Shall soon wi' leaves be hinging, 

The birdies, dowie * moaning, 
Shall a' be blithely singing, 
And every flower be springing. 

Sae I'll rejoice the lee-lang day, 
When by his mighty warden 

My youth's return 'd to fair Strathspey, 
And bonny Castle-Gordon. 

At the northeast, on the coast at Banff, is 
Duff House, the seat of the Duke of Fife, 
who married a daughter of King Edward 
VII. A fine collection of paintings by fa- 
mous masters is a somewhat surprising "find" 
in this far northern town. One of the cu- 
riosities of the castle is a huge sword 
which belonged to James Macpherson, a free- 
booter of the late seventeenth century, who 
composed a song, "Macpherson's Lament," 
while in prison awaiting execution. Burns 
wrote "Macpherson's Farewell" on the same 
theme. 

"Farewell, ye dungeons dark and strong, 
The wretch's destinie! 
Macpherson' s time will not be long 
On yonder gallows-tree. 



1 Sadly. 



211 



CHOSEN DAYS IN SCOTLAND 

"Sae rantingly, sae wantonly, 
Sae dauntingly gaed he; 
He play'd a spring, and danced it round, 
Below the gallows-tree. 

"Oh! what is death but parting breath? — 
On mony a bloody plain 
I've dared his face, and in this place 
I scorn him yet again ! 

"Untie these bands from off my hands, 
And bring to me my sword ! 
And there's no a man in all Scotland 
But I'll brave him at a word. 

"I've lived a life of sturt and strife; 
I die by treacherie: 
It burns my heart I must depart 
And not avenged be. 

"Now farewell light — thou sunshine bright, 
And all beneath the sky ! 
May coward shame distain his name, 
The wretch that dares not die!" 

Elgin is well worth a visit, if only to see the 
imposing ruins of the cathedral, which, in its 
day, was the most magnificent of all the 
cathedrals of Scotland. It was founded in 
1224, and, after being destroyed by the "Wolf 
of Badenoch," an illegitimate son of Robert 
II, it was rebuilt in 1414. It suffered at the 
hands of various spoilers, and was used as a 

212 



A GROUP OF CASTLES 

quarry until, in 1820, the crown took posses- 
sion of it. The most complete part of the ruin is 
the chapter-house or "Prentice Aisle," about 
which a tale is told like that related of the 
pillar in Roslin Chapel. There are various 
interesting tombs in the ruins, and on the south 
wall, with the date 1687, a tablet bears this 
inscription: 

1 ' This world is a citie full of streets, 
And Death is the mercat that all men meets, 
If lyfe were a thing that monie could buy, 
The Poor could not live, and the Rich would not die. ' ' 

Elgin contains other noteworthy ruins — of 
the Bishop's House and of a Franciscan mon- 
astery and of an ancient gateway — while the 
town itself is a pleasant, clean city, set in 
a beautiful country. 

A few miles beyond Elgin is Forres, in whose 
"Palace" Banquo's ghost appeared to the 
guilty Macbeth. From Forres may be visited 
the exquisite valley of the Findhorn. Nairn, 
a great golfing centre and popular seashore 
resort, historically known as the headquarters 
of Cumberland's troops on the night before 
the battle of Culloden, is not far away, and a 
short distance farther on is Inverness. 

213 



CHAPTER XIII 

INVERNESS AND CULLODEN MOOR 

INVERNESS has an advantage possessed by 
many other Scottish cities, a beautiful sit- 
uation. It stands at the head of the 
Moray Firth, at the entrance of the Great 
Glen, and at the meeting-point of the High- 
land road from Dunkeld and the road from 
Aberdeen. The rapid and full-volumed river 
Ness which flows through the centre of the 
town, is spanned by four graceful bridges. 
The valley between Inverness and Loch Ness 
is lovely, the river flowing between wooded 
banks. In the stream, about a mile from the 
town, are two charming islands, laid out as 
pleasure grounds. 

Many people are not aware that Inverness is 
a most convenient and delightful centre for 
excursions, which may be made by land or by 
water in almost any direction. Its healthful 
climate and its unusually beautiful surround- 
ings mark it as a delightful place in which to 

5214 




H 

o 

S 
H 



INVERNESS AND CULLODEN MOOR 

make a prolonged visit. The English of In- 
verness is said to be the purest spoken in the 
British Isles. 

As Inverness, like so many other Scottish 
towns, has a beginning so far back that it is 
not recorded, it is a disappointment not to find 
more indications of antiquity. We know that 
King Brude had his Pictish capital on the 
Ness — it is thought on the wooded hill called 
Craig Phadric, just west of the city. This was 
probably where Columba came when he trav- 
elled north to convert the Pictish king. King 
Brude refused to open the palace gates for the 
stranger, whereupon Columba made the sign 
of the cross, and placed his hand on the gates, 
which flew open of their own accord. The 
king, deeply impressed by this exhibition of 
power, welcomed Columba and listened to his 
teachings. The Christianizing of the Picts 
was a great step toward the civilization and 
the union of North Britain. 

On Craig Phadric are the remains of a vitri- 
fied fort, one of a number found along the 
coast and in the Great Glen. 

According to tradition, Macbeth 's castle, 
where Duncan was murdered, was at Inverness. 
This may have been the case, as Macbeth was 

215 



CHOSEN DAYS IN SCOTLAND 

Marmaor of Moray. The marmaors, or officers 
of the kings of Alban, were men of great power 
which they used as if they were kings them- 
selves. Indeed they were called kings by the 
Gaelic chroniclers. People of Inverness think 
Shakespeare's characterization of its air so 
correct that he must have been there in person. 

This castle hath a pleasant seat ; the air 
Nimbly and sweetly recommends itself 
Unto our gentle senses. This guest of summer, 
The temple-haunting martlet, does approve 
By his loved masonry that the heaven's breath 
Smells wooingly here. 

Malcolm Canmore destroyed Macbeth's 
Castle of Inverness, and built a castle on 
another site. This stood until just before 
Culloden, when Prince Charlie had it blown 
up lest it should fall into the hands of the 
enemy. Many historic episodes are connect- 
ed with the fortress. It was there that King 
James I summoned a meeting of the High- 
land chiefs, whom he immediately seized, and 
some of whom he had executed and some held 
as prisoners. When Queen Mary visited In- 
verness on her tour to suppress the insurrec- 
tion of the Earl of Huntly, the governor of 

216 



INVERNESS AND CULLODEN MOOR 

the castle, being in the interest of the Earl, 
refused her admission. Soon after it was take n 
by her troops and the governor was hanged. 
The present castle, from which is a lovely view, 
is modern and contains the County Buildings. 
In front of it is a granite statue of Flora Mac- 
donald, the brave young woman who assisted 
in the escape of Prince Charlie. The inscrip- 
tion is: 

" 'Mong hills that were by richt his ane 
He roved a lanely stranger. 

One of Cromwell's five great Scottish citadels 
or forts was built at Inverness. It was an 
enormous structure, but stood fewer than ten 
years, because, at the Restoration, the citadels 
erected by Old Ironsides were demolished in 
accordance with an act of Parliament. 

Perhaps the oldest bit of Inverness is a stone 
embedded in a modern fountain in front of the 
Town Hall. All public proclamations were 
made from this bit of rock, whose name, 
' * Clach-a-cudain, " " Stone of the Tubs," refers 
to the time when the maidens of Inverness used 
it as a resting-place for their jars of water on 
their way back from the river. 

At the east of Inverness, and about fourteen 

217 



CHOSEN DAYS IN SCOTLAND 

miles away, is an old castle of unusual interest. 
In 1454 James II granted to the Thane of 
Cawdor, a favourite of his, a license to build. 
Tradition says tnat the thane found some 
difficulty in choosing a site, so he put the gold 
with which he intended to pay for the erection 
of his new dwelling on the back of an ass, and 
determined to advance until the ass voluntarily 
lay down, and there to erect his fortress. The 
ass finally lying down at the foot of a haw- 
thorn, Cawdor proceeded to build his strong- 
hold about the tree, in proof of which the 
stump is still to be seen in an underground 
room. The tower belongs to the early date, 
but several additions were made in the seven- 
teenth century. The castle is still in use, and 
is approached by a drawbridge over the moat, 
which is in its olden condition. 

About five miles from Inverness is Culloden 
(or Drummossie) Moor, where Prince Charlie 
made a last desperate effort to win back the 
throne of his ancestors. At that time barren 
of trees, the land was desolate, a characteristic 
somewhat softened by a fir wood which grows 
on a part of the battle-field even to-day. 
Principal Shairp, of St. Andrews, has described 
it: 

218 



INVERNESS AND CULLODEN MOOR 

"The moorland wide, and waste, and brown, 
Heaves far and near, and up and down, 
Few trenches green the desert crown, 
And these are the graves of Culloden. ' ' 

The prince's army numbered from four to five 
thousand untrained Highlanders; that of the 
Duke of Cumberland, George IPs "fat son," 
ten thousand disciplined soldiers. During the 
night of April 15, 1746, Prince Charlie and 
his army were encamped on the moor. Sup- 
plies had run low, and the rations were only 
one biscuit per man the day before. The 
night was very cold. When the Prince's body 
of half -starved, half-frozen Highlanders met 
double their number of well-fed men, they 
were in no condition to win a battle. Cum- 
berland's men had encamped for the night at 
Nairn, where an unsuccessful attempt was made 
to surprise them. The next morning the 
Jacobites, wearied by their fruitless march to 
Nairn, and breakfastless, met the royalist 
army. A rain of hail and mist beat into the 
faces of the Highlanders, and, what was even 
worse, there was dissension in their ranks, the 
Macdonalds refusing to fight because they 
were assigned to the left wing instead of the 
right, which had been their prerogative since 

219 



CHOSEN DAYS IN SCOTLAND 

Bannockburn. The other clans made a fierce 
onslaught with their Highland weapons, and 
caused great havoc in the first line of the Eng- 
lish, and even in the second line, but the rapid 
fire of the latter mowed down great numbers 
of the clansmen. When they found that some 
of Cumberland's men were moving to their 
rear, they saw that all hope was gone, and as 
many as could made their escape. All whom 
Cumberland seized and all the wounded he 
caused to be killed without quarter, an act of 
cruelty which won for him the name of " Billy 
the Butcher. " Smollett, in his ' ' Tears of Scot- 
land," writes: 

' ' Yet, when the rage of battle ceased, 
The victor's soul was not appeased; 
The naked and forlorn must feel 
Devouring flames and murdering steel. 

About a thousand of the Highlanders were 
slain in the engagement, and of the royalist 
army three hundred and ten were "killed, 
wounded, and missing. " On the field where 
the fight was waged most fiercely, is a cairn 
with the inscription: 

"The Battle of Culloden was fought on this moor 
on 17th April, 1746. The graves of the Highlanders 

220 



INVERNESS AND CULLODEN MOOR 

who fought for Scotland and Prince Charlie are 
marked bv the names of their clans. ' ' 

Half a mile from the battle-field is the huge 
flat boulder, a relic of the ice age, where the 
Duke of Cumberland stood to witness the 
battle. 

Inverness, the headquarters of the clans, 
suffered most severely from the defeat. The 
poet Burns, who visited Culloden Moor in 
1787, put into verse the lament of not one 
lass, but many: 

"The lovely lass of Inverness, 

Nae joy nor pleasure can she see, 
For e'en and morn she cries, alas! 

And aye the saut tear blin's her e'e — 

" 'Drummossie muir, Drummossie day! 
A waefu' day it was to me ! 
For there I lost my father dear, 

My father dear, and brethren three. 

"Their winding-sheet the bluidy clay — 
Their graves are growing green to see; 
And by them lies the dearest lad 
That ever blest a woman's e'e. 

"Now wae to thee, thou cruel lord! 
A bluidy man I trow thou be ; 
For mony a heart thou hast made sair 

That ne'er did wrong to them or thee. ' " 
221 



CHOSEN DAYS IN SCOTLAND 

Prince Charlie escaped and fled to the west- 
ern Highlands with a price of thirty thousand 
pounds upon his head. The country was pa- 
trolled both by land and sea by the militia, 
and for five months the hunted man was passed 
from place to place, even as far as the Outer 
Isles, always in the care of devoted clansmen. 
Poor as some of them were, there was not one 
poor enough to betray their idolized Prince 



222 



CHAPTER XIV 

THE GREAT GLEN 

NO matter how disagreeably early the 
morning hour, nor how wet and uncom- 
fortable the day, the traveller who sets 
forth from Inverness to steam through the 
Caledonian Canal, is filled with cheerful anti- 
cipation. The exhilarating quality of the air, 
which prevents even Scotland's rain from 
dampening enthusiasm, may have something 
to do with it, or it may be that the atmosphere 
is charged with the promise of views of historic 
ground, of lovely scenery, and of storied castles. 
A last gray glimpse of Inverness shows in the 
foreground the green, rounded hill of Tom- 
nahurich, the city of the dead. The "boat- 
shaped hill," for that is the meaning of the 
name, is covered with trees, among which 
gleam white tombstones. A tradition says that 
the body of Thomas the Rhymer lies under 
Tomnahurich which enchantment raised over 
him as a monument. 

223 



CHOSEN DAYS IN SCOTLAND 

From the very beginning the sail upon the 
canal is full of delight. The steamer glides 
peacefully between banks which rise into hills, 
green and wooded, on one side, and stretch 
away to rich meadows on the other. The 
Great Glen, whose course the canal follows, is 
said to be a fault or fracture on the earth's sur- 
face, deepened by serving as the path of a gla- 
cier. It extends southwest from the Moray 
Firth in a chain of lochs which, a little over 
a century ago, were connected by a series 
of canals which make twenty-two miles of 
the sixty covered by the route. The lochs, of 
course, cover the remaining thirty-eight miles. 

With the entrance to narrow Loch Ness, the 
"Loch of the Cataract," the view between the 
abrupt banks down its length of twenty-four 
miles, recalls the view from the head of a Nor- 
wegian fiord. The lower slopes of the sur- 
rounding mountains and hills are richly wood- 
ed, and on an August day the heather makes 
a purple carpet above the forest. On a rocky 
promontory rises a grand old ruin which can 
be examined on all sides as the steamer slowly 
rounds the point on which it stands. It is 
Castle Urquhart, and it commands the en- 
trance to Glen Urquhart whose fine trees 

224 



, 




■ 1 






3 1 



THE GREAT GLEN 

stretch toward the west. As in the case of so 
many other Scottish castles the date of its 
foundation is not known. It is recorded, how- 
ever, that it was seized by the English in 1297, 
and that they were able to hold it less than a 
year. In 1303, they captured it again and 
held it until driven out by Robert the Bruce. 
The castle met with many vicissitudes through- 
out the Middle Ages, and was finally blown 
up by King William's men, to prevent its fall- 
ing into the hands of the Jacobites. Early in 
the sixteenth century, it came into the posses- 
sion of the clan Grant, and it still belongs to 
the chief of that clan, the Earl of Seafield. A 
cheerful contrivance of the days of ultra-bar- 
barous warfare is seen in a curious arrangement 
of the windows through which molten lead 
could be poured upon the heads of the enemy. 
John Bright, who is fond of this neighbourhood, 
has written the following suggestive quatrain: 

"In Highland glens 'tis far too oft observed 
That man is chased away and game preserved; 
Glen Urquhart is to me a lovelier glen — 
Here deer and grouse have not supplanted men. ' ' 

Across the loch is the pass of Inverfarigaig 
through which Prince Charles came after the 

225 



CHOSEN DAYS IN SCOTLAND 

battle of Culloden, undoubtedly blinded to its 
beauties by the misery of his defeat. He was 
entertained at a house in the pass by Lord 
Lovat, who was bitterly disappointed at the 
result of the battle, and highly indignant at 
the giving up of the attempt to re-establish 
the Stuarts. 

A mile from Foyers Pier are the Falls of 
Foyers, about a quarter of a mile apart, the 
lower one ninety feet high. They were very 
beautiful before the Aluminum Works above 
reduced the volume of water; even now they 
are worth seeing after a heavy rain. Burns 
was inspired to a description of them in his 
lines/ 'written with a pencil while standing by 
the fall": 

"Among the heathy hills and rugged woods 
The roaring Foyers pours his mossy floods, 
Till full he dashes on the rocky mounds, 
Where, thro' a shapeless breach, his stream resounds, 
As high in air the bursting torrents flow, 
As deep recoiling surges foam below, 
Prone down the rock the whitening sheet descends, 
And viewless echo's ear, astonished, rends. 
Dim-seen, through rising mists, and ceaseless show'rs, 
The hoary cavern, wide-surrounding, low'rs. 
Still thro' the gap the struggling river toils, 
And still below, the horrid caldron boils. 

226 



THE GREAT GLEN 

In sailing down the loch, the round top of 
Mealfourvournie, rising on the west side, 
draws more and more to the foreground of the 
picture. Its name, which looks more formid- 
able than it sounds, means " rounded hill of 
the cold moor. " Just below the mountain is 
Invermoriston, at the entrance of Glenmoris- 
ton, one of the loveliest glens of the route. 
Not far from the foot of Mealfourvournie is a 
ravine which was the scene of the final act of 
a clan tragedy early in the seventeenth cen- 
tury. The Macdonells, who were at feud with 
the Mackenzies, crossed the hills to Beauly, 
east from Inverness, and finding the church of 
Cilles-Christ full of Mackenzies, set fire to it, 
and burned or killed all the worshippers. This 
was in retaliation for the killing by the Mac- 
kenzies of the son of the Macdonell chief. 
After the outrage was perpetrated by the Mac- 
donells, those of the Mackenzies who were not 
in the holocaust gave chase to their foes, and, 
overtaking them, gave them such a thorough 
drubbing that the Macdonells fled for their 
lives. One of them, Alan MacRaonuill, miss- 
ing the ford, made for a chasm through which 
the burn was foaming below. In his despera- 
tion he succeeded in clearing the yawning 

227 



CHOSEN DAYS IN SCOTLAND 

opening, but the Mackenzie who followed him 
was not so fortunate. Just missing a foothold 
he managed to catch the branch of a birch- 
tree and hung suspended over the rocky depth. 
MacRaonuill, looking back, saw the perilous 
position of his pursuer, and, calmly returning, 
chopped off the branch, and watched his foe 
drop into the abyss below. These clan feuds 
were not pleasant affairs at their best, but the 
burning of the church was a savage deed even 
for those days, and it is not softened by the 
fact that the Macdonells' piper walked round 
the church composing a tune which is known 
to this day by the name of the church. A 
like story of a church burning is told in Skye, 
in connection with the feud between the Mac- 
leods and the Macdonalds. 

After leaving Invermoriston the tower of 
the Benedictine Abbey at Fort Augustus, at 
the south end of the loch, becomes prominent. 
Fort Augustus is one of a chain of three forts 
built along the Great Glen, the other two be- 
ing Fort William at the south end, and Fort 
George near Inverness. Fort George is still 
in use. They were built to keep the clans in 
order after the " Fifteen." About forty-five 
years ago Lord Lovat bought Fort Augustus, 

228 



THE GREAT GLEN 

which had been garrisoned up to the time of 
the Crimean War, and a few years later his 
heir presented the property and the adjoining 
land to the Benedictine Order of monks as a 
site for a monastery. The imposing build- 
ings, in which a good part of the fort was in- 
corporated, are of the Early English order 
of architecture. 

At Fort Augustus the steamer goes through 
five locks, raising it fifty feet above the level 
of Loch Xess. During the three-quarters of 
an hour occupied by this process the passen- 
gers have an opportunity to go ashore for a 
ramble, ^lien they return they may happen 
upon a scene not infrequent along the Canal. 
Perhaps a shepherd comes up with eight or ten 
sheep, which he wishes to bring on board. 
An intelligent sheep-dog will drive the flock 
toward the gangplank, but when they are 
within two or three feet of it, they are quite 
liable to take it into their sheepish heads sud- 
denly to scatter in all directions. Immedi- 
ately they are rounded up by the dog and 
driven back. This will happen several times, 
the dog always flashing around the sheep and 
collecting them in a twinkling. Finally the 
shepherd will catch the leader and force him, 

229 



CHOSEN DAYS IN SCOTLAND 

resisting at every step, along the gangway. 
His progress, though unwilling, will produce 
an immediate illustration of the docile manner 
in which sheep follow a leader, for the other 
members of the little flock at once cease 
darting wildly about, fall into line and with- 
out even a signal of invitation, come down 
the passage into the ship as closely on the heels 
of their leader as they can follow. Those not 
wise in dogs may be surprised to learn that 
the active and talkative guardian of the flock 
is not a pure collie. Indeed, the wonderful 
sheep-dogs of the books are rarely full-blooded 
collies, for it is thought that the mongrel with 
some collie blood is more intelligent than the 
dog of purer breed. 

Beyond Fort Augustus a stretch of canal 
leads to Loch Oich, which is at the summit of 
the route, and is the smallest loch of the Glen. 

Near its head is Aberchalder, where, in 1745, 
Prince Charlie, in hopeful spirit, reviewed his 
army before starting south on his period of 
conquest. Loch Oich, less than four miles 
long and only about a quarter of a mile broad, 
is one of the most charming parts of the route. 
Pretty little wooded islets and heavily wooded 
shores, with a considerable elevation on the 

230 



THE GREAT GLEN 

west bank, enrich the scenery. There are 
many kinds of trees, but the larches and the 
silver birches are the most graceful and the 
most delicate in colour. Half way down the 
Loch, on the west bank, is the grey ruin of 
Invergarry Castle, once the home of the chief 
of the Macdonnells, the Glengarry Macdonell. 
Here Prince Charles was entertained in '45 
when his fortunes were prospering, and here, 
after Culloden, he stopped to spend the night. 
He found the castle deserted, and a few days 
later it was burned by the Duke of Cumberland. 
At the lower end of the loch is a curious mon- 
ument commemorating another murderous act 
of the Middle Ages. The monument at its 
apex shows seven human heads and stands near 
a spring which is called Tobar-nan-Ceann, 
4 * The well of the heads." The story is that 
Keppoch sent his two sons to France to be ed- 
ucated, and died while they were away. When 
they returned, the seven kinsmen who had 
been left in charge of the estate murdered the 
heirs, and divided the property among them- 
selves. The summary vengeance visited on 
the murderers by The Macdonell is recorded 
on the monument in Gaelic, English, French, 
and Latin: 

231 



CHOSEN DAYS IN SCOTLAND 



AS A MEMORIAL 

OF THE AMPLE AND SUMMARY 

VENGEANCE 

WHICH, IN THE SWIFT COURSE OF 

FEUDAL JUSTICE, 

INFLICTED BY THE ORDERS OF 

THE LORD M'DONELL AND AROSS, 

OVERTOOK THE PERPETRATORS OF 

THE FOUL MURDER 

OF 

THE KEPPOCH FAMILY, 

A BRANCH OF 

THE POWERFUL AND ILLUSTRIOUS 

CLAN 

OF WHICH HIS LORDSHIP WAS 

THE CHIEF, 

THIS MONUMENT IS ERECTED BY 

COLONEL M'DONELL OF GLENGARRY, 

XVII. MAC-MHIC-ALAISTER, 

HIS SUCCESSOR AND REPRESENTATIVE 

IN THE YEAR OF OUR LORD, 

1812. 

THE HEADS OF THE SEVEN MURDERERS 

WERE PRESENTED AT THE FEET OF 

THE NOBLE CHIEF 

IN GLENGARRY CASTLE, 

AFTER HAVING BEEN WASHED 

IN THIS SPRING; 

AND EVER SINCE THAT EVENT, 

WHICH TOOK PLACE EARLY IN 

THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY, 

IT HAS BEEN KNOWN BY 

THE NAME OF 

"TOBAR-NAN-CEANN, " 

OR 

"THE WELL OF THE HEADS." 

232 



THE GREAT GLEN 

For a little distance between Loch Oich and 
Loch Lochy, the canal runs through an avenue 
of soft pines, sometimes called Laggan Avenue. 
At Kinloch-lochy, near the north end of the 
loch, took place a battle between the Frasers 
and the Macdonalds, called "Blar na Leine," 
"The Battle of the Shirts," because both the 
heat of the day as well as of the fray caused 
the clansmen to throw aside their jackets, and 
to continue the desperate battle in their under- 
garments. 

The banks of Loch Lochy are treeless and 
mountainous, entirely different in character 
from the part of the canal already passed over. 
Here is the land of the Camerons, one of the 
most powerful of the Highland clans. West 
of the lower end of the loch is the glen, which 
merits many adjectives — beautiful and roman- 
tic and picturesque — in which lies Loch Ar- 
kaig. Back from the loch are the ruins of the 
castle, Achnacarry, seat of the chief of clan 
Cameron. When word was brought of the ap- 
proach of Prince Charlie, Lochiel, who was one 
of the noblest chiefs of his times and a staunch 
Jacobite, was superintending the planting of 
an avenue of beech-trees leading up to the 
castle. He immediately suspended operations 

233 



CHOSEN DAYS IN SCOTLAND 

and directed his men to dig a trench and to 
bank up the trees in it, saying that they would 
go on with the work when they returned. 
Lochiel never returned. He was exiled, and 
died of a broken heart three years after the 
6 ' Forty-Five. ' ' The beeches, which have never 
been moved, have grown into lofty trees, but 
they are so close together as to excite question 
until the story is told. 

Near the ivy-covered ruins of the old castle, 
of which the Duke of Cumberland made a 
burnt offering, stands the modern castle, seat 
of Lochiel, the present chief of the clan. The 
title of duke was recently offered to him, but 
evidently he preferred to be known by the 
name borne for many centuries by his ances- 
tors, for he did not accept the honour. 

Near Achnacarry is a road called ' 6 The Dark 
Mile" where it runs through Glen Arkaig. 
The avenue of trees is so thickly laced over- 
head as to give the path beneath the dim light 
of a cathedral. Glen Arkaig was another of 
Prince Charlie's hiding-places when he was 
making his way toward Skye whence he hoped 
to escape to France. 

As the boat glides into Banavie it seems to 
be under the very shadow of Ben Nevis. The 

234 



THE GREAT GLEN 

snow lies deep in the old Ben's crevasses, 
through the whole year. At Banavie is 
another set of locks, known as "Neptune's 
Staircase, " through which the steamer descends 
to sea-level once more and goes on for two 
miles to Fort William. Most passengers elect 
to save time by leaving the boat at Banavie 
and taking the train to Fort William. The 
train passes the ruins of Inverlochy Castle, 
which overlooks the plain on which took place 
the battle between the Marquis of Argyle and 
the Marquis of Montrose, described in Scott's 
"The Legend of Montrose. " 

Fort William has little attraction in itself, 
but, like many other places in Scotland, it is 
a capital base for excursions. Lying at the 
head of Loch Linnhe, and at the foot of the 
Great Glen, with a line of railroad running to 
interesting places both east and west, it be- 
comes a natural junction for the summer trav- 
eller more than once during the season. 
Sometimes his plans are overset like those of 
a recent party of ladies who had read of a de- 
lightful coaching tour from Tulloch to Kin- 
gussie. At the end of the Caledonian Canal 
journey, they changed trains at Fort William, 
and went on to Tulloch, where they arrived at 

235 



CHOSEN DAYS IN SCOTLAND 

about five o'clock in the afternoon. The road 
skirts the north side of Ben Nevis, and, after 
Spean Bridge, runs beside the picturesque river 
Spean, dashing along between walls of rock. 
At Tulloch station, with the train drawing 
away beyond hope of rescue, they approached 
the cheerful-looking station-master and asked 
him to direct them to a hotel. "There is no 
hotel. " ' ' There must be ! " There was insist- 
ence in the tone, for even the most pleasing 
prospect falls short of satisfying the vile inner 
man at this hour of the day. "Doesn't the 
coach leave here every morning at seven o'clock 
for Kingussie?" It appeared that the seven 
o'clock coach was as non-existent as the hotel, 
time-tables notwithstanding, and also that the 
next train back to Roy Bridge, where there 
was a good hotel, did not pass till nine o'clock. 
The cheerful station-master saved the situation 
by a somewhat enforced direction to the only 
house visible, a pretty, flower-set stone cottage 
on a hill near the station. The fresh-faced 
woman who came to the door, and who turned 
out to be the station-master's wife, at first 
thought she could not receive any newcomers 
because of the presence of an English lady, 
who, she was sure, would not wish her to take 

236 



THE GREAT GLEN 

any other guests. She admitted, however, 
that the Englishwoman had not engaged the 
whole house, and finally yielded to a persistent 
plea for hospitality, which, once given, proved 
to be as whole-hearted as it had been reluctant. 
The cottage's furnishing of books was one sug- 
gestive betrayal of the minds of its occupants, 
and of their need of companionship during the 
long, hard winters. The collection included 
a catholic variety ranging from science through 
philosophy and religion to American fiction. 

From the glen road the sunset behind the 
western mountains was glorious to see. Its 
golden light poured into the valley, touching 
the soft, luxuriant foliage of the trees growing 
along the river banks, and turning to royal 
purple the heather-covered moorland which 
stretched away to hill and mountain tops. 
During that summer the whole country had 
been covered with the richest mantle of heather 
that it had worn for years, but the exquisitely 
soft yet intense purple touched with gold and 
pink, and changing on near approach to loveli- 
est shades of lavender and heliotrope, which 
covered these moorland slopes, surpassed any 
other heather in Scotland. O, the joy of go- 
ing into the midst of it, wading through waves 

237 



CHOSEN DAYS IN SCOTLAND 

of superb colour ! It must be confessed, though, 
that walking on a moor is not so easy as read- 
ing about it! Sometimes the seeker is re- 
warded by finding a sprig of white heather, 
which is supposed to confer on the finder and 
on any one with whom he shares it even better 
fortune than that which accompanies the four- 
leaved clover. However that may be, the 
white heather is a much harder plant to find. 

In the deliciously pure, crisp air a drive 
through the wild beauties and the brilliant 
solitude of Glen Spean, with its rising purple 
moorland and its magnificent mountain views, 
is a j ourney of enchantment. Even more satis- 
fying would be the drive in the reverse direc- 
tion with the heights as its climax. 

At Loch Laggan, the road for seven miles 
follows the shore of the lake, and gives 
glimpses of forest and mountain across the 
water from beneath graceful, overhanging 
trees. Here was a royal hunting-ground in 
olden times, and the mountain beyond Laggan 
Hotel is a resort much prized by anglers. A 
more delightful and restful place in which to 
spend a holiday it would be hard to find. 

From the head of the loch, with its outstand- 
ing views of the western mountains, the road 

238 



THE GREAT GLEN 

winds along the gentle valley of the Pattock 
through an avenue of unusually tall and stately 
birches, with now a glimpse of open moorland 
seen beyond the slender stems, and now a for- 
est thicket; there a gleaming waterfall in the 
distance, and here a burn babbling under the 
horses' feet. Beyond the tiny stone houses of 
Laggan Bridge is Cluny Castle, the home of 
the chief of the Macphersons. The castle 
treasures many precious relics, none more sa- 
cred than the letter from Prince Charlie in- 
viting The Macpherson to join his standard. 
The building occupies the site of an older one 
which was burned after the "Forty-five," but 
its traditional customs were not destroyed in 
the flames. Among them is the maintenance 
of a piper. The present incumbent of this 
post is a thick-set, fine-looking Highlander 
who walks with the dignified swing which be- 
longs to the wearer of the kilt. This is the 
man who must be sent by The Macpherson to 
play a pibroch at the funeral of any descend- 
ant of the faithful henchman who took food 
to Cluny Macpherson of the "Forty-Five" 
while he was concealed in a cave on the side of 
Craig Dhu, a mountain which towers above the 
road on the north side not far from Kingussie. 

239 



CHAPTER XV 

IN ORCADIA 

THE Orkney Islands ! How far away and 
indefinite they sound! Yet every one 
familiar with Scottish history knows 
what a thorn in the side of Scotland were the 
old Norse sea-rovers who occupied and ruled 
the islands for nearly three centuries ; how they 
circled down in their ships and harried the in- 
habitants of the mainland and frequently 
seized large tracts of land which they occupied 
till they were driven out by some energetic 
king of the Scots; and how they would not 
stay out! As soon as the attention of Scot- 
land was centred elsewhere the Norsemen 
were back at their old trade of plundering and 
pillaging. Then, when their depredations had 
gone too far, and their increasing power be- 
came a menace, once more the Scottish soldiers 
would be led against them, forcing them to 
withdraw again to their islands. Little won- 
der that the people of northern Scotland lived 

240 



IN ORCADIA 

in constant fear of their island neighbors! 
Lovers of Sir Walter Scott have read in "The 
Pirate" his vivid description of scenes in the 
Orkneys. 

This is all fascinating enough, but when 
one finds in some book of travel that from a 
distance the Orkneys present "the appearance 
of enormous low molehills" the observation is 
not calculated to rouse enthusiasm. Neither 
is the information acquired about the Pentland 
Firth. The crossing takes between three and 
four hours, and though the firth is only eight 
miles wide at its narrowest part, the passage, 
which is somewhat longer, is sometimes 
rougher than an Atlantic voyage. According 
to the guide-book "There is always a swell on 
the Pentland Firth, and sometimes the current 
is running so fiercely that it can be seen as an 
oily, rolling river on the rougher surface of 
the sea. " A historic instance of the power of 
these waters is recorded in connection with 
Hakon, King of Norway. He was returning 
from Largs with the remnant of his fleet when 
one of his ships was caught in the Swelkie, a 
dangerous whirlpool near the island of Stroma, 
and went down with all on board. 

The northbound train from Inverness skirts 

241 



CHOSEN DAYS IN SCOTLAND 

the sparkling waters of the German Ocean, 
passing Dunrobin Castle, the northern seat of 
the Duke of Sutherland, running along the 
shores of lovely inland lochs and over heathery 
moorlands, and reaching at length Thurso, the 
most northerly town in Scotland. At Scrab- 
ster, the port of Thurso, the little St. Olaf, 
the Royal Mail Steamer, runs daily to Kirk- 
wall and Stromness on the island called 
Pomona, or the Mainland of the Orkneys. She 
seems an amazingly small vessel to brave the 
current of the Pentland Firth. 

Sailing out of Thurso Bay, the Old Man of 
Hoy, a huge sandstone column on the island 
of Hoy about twenty miles distant, stands out, 
clear and distinct in the bright sunlight. 
When the Firth is "like a summer sea," as 
may happen in August, nothing can be finer 
than the view of the Orcadian shores on the 
north, and of the coast of Caithness, terminating 
in the bold promontory called Dunnet Head, 
on the south. On account of the tide the St. 
Olaf sometimes sails east toward Stroma before 
heading north among the islands. As the sun 
goes down, the little steamer slows and stops 
off the low shore of South Ronaldsay, and 
waits for a large boat which rows alongside 

242 




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IN ORCADIA 

and takes off passengers for St. Margaret's 
Hope, a village on the island. The rolling out- 
lines of large and small islands rise mysteri- 
ously in the bright northern twilight, and as 
travellers step ashore at Scapa Pier on Main- 
land, they are glad in their hearts that they 
have come. So long is the summer day in 
this region, that even after a drive of two miles 
across the isthmus to Kirkwall it is still light 
enough to see the great red cathedral towering 
above the grey houses grouped around the head 
of Kirkwall Bay. 

The early history of the Orkneys is wrapped 
in obscurity, but that they were inhabited be- 
fore the Roman invasion, is evidenced by the 
antiquity of the remains which have been found 
there. Tacitus mentions the group in the 
"Agricola," and it was the Romans who first 
called them the "Orcades," a name which may 
have been taken from Cape Orcas, now Dunnet 
Head. Scattered throughout the islands are 
many prehistoric towers, mounds, earth-houses, 
and stone circles ascribed to the Picts. But 
the chief claim of the Orkney groups to a 
romantically historic interest, is that they were 
the scene of many Viking exploits, and were 
for about three centuries ruled by Norwegian 

243 



CHOSEN DAYS IN SCOTLAND 

Jarls. The Northmen who first came to the 
Orkneys used the islands as a base from which 
to harry the inhabitants not only of Britain 
and Ireland, but also of their own country. 
When Harold the Fair-haired united all the 
petty kingdoms of Norway under his rule, he 
also took possession of the Orkneys, where he 
established Sigurd with the title, Jarl, or Earl, 
of Orkney, Shetland, and Caithness. Exciting 
tales of the prowess and adventures of the 
jarls and chief men of the Orkneys have come 
down to us in that part of the sagas called the 
Orkneyinga Saga — stories of Harold's conquest 
of Orkney, of the conversion of the Orcadians 
to Christianity, of the murder of the good Earl 
Magnus on the Island of Egilsay, of the raids 
of Sweyn Asleifson, "the last of the Vikings," 
of the founding of the Cathedral of St. Mag- 
nus, of the pilgrimage of Earl Rognvald to 
Jerusalem. 

These were stirring days, but the semi- 
independence of the islands came to an end 
when, on the marriage of Margaret of Norway 
to Prince James of Scotland, afterward James 
III, the King of Norway pledged the Ork- 
ney and Shetland Islands as his daughter's 
dowry. For some centuries after this the 

244 



IN ORCADIA 

Orcadians suffered from the cruelty and op- 
pression of the tyrannical and extortionate 
earls and bishops who were given power over 
them. Even the Udallers, the peasant nobles 
to whose ancestors Harold gave full and free 
possession of certain lands, were crushed by 
the heavy burden of taxation imposed on 
them. 1 This condition of affairs lasted all 
through the Scottish rule, and for some time 
after the union. At length the land was ap- 
portioned out in farms, new methods of agri- 
culture were introduced, and an era of peace- 
ful living began for the Orcadians. In fact 
the atmosphere of peace which now pervades 
the islands is so marked that it is hard to be- 
lieve that they were ever the scene of bloody 
conflicts. 

Of the fifty-six islands of the Orkneys, only 
twenty-nine are inhabited. Except for the 
heights on Hoy and some cliffs on the west 



1 The udal system has been described as "the direct negation 
of every feudal principle." "The udaller held his land without 
any written title, subject to no service or payment to a superior, 
and with full possession and every conceivable right of owner- 
ship. The udaller was a peasant noble ; he was the king's equal 
and not his vassal. He owed king or jarl no services, duties, or 
payment for his udal lands, which he held as an absolute posses- 
sion, inalienable from him and his race." 

245 



CHOSEN DAYS IN SCOTLAND 

coast of Mainland, the islands present only 
gently rolling outlines which are unbroken by 
tree or shrub. On Mainland or Pomona, are 
Kirkwall, the capital, and Stromness, the only 
two towns in the group. Agriculture is the 
principal occupation, some of the islands, as 
South Ronaldsay and Sanday, being wholly 
given up to it. Herring fishing is, however, 
the chief industry. The inhabitants naturally 
show traces of their Norse ancestry, some of 
them even speaking with a Norse accent. The 
termination ' ' ay" or ' ' ey"of the names of most 
of the islands is from the Norse "ey," signify- 
ing an island. 

Kirkwall is a sleepy old place on the north 
side of the isthmus which divides Mainland 
into two unequal parts. On the main street, 
which is a mile long and in places so narrow 
that carriages have difficulty in passing each 
other, is the stately old Cathedral of St. Mag- 
nus, which has stood there for nearly eight 
centuries. It is of red sandstone, and makes a 
pleasing bit of colour in the centre of the grey 
town. Many of the houses are of the step- 
gable sort, and a few of them date back to the 
fifteenth century. 

The cathedral was erected by Earl Rognvald 

246 



IN ORCADIA 

the Second in memory of his murdered uncle 
and as a thank-offering after he had secured 
his own succession in the islands. The earliest 
part is in the Norman style, the later additions, 
Early English. During the Reformation the 
cathedral, like all the other beautiful churchly 
edifices of Scotland, was "purified," a process 
that consisted in destroying all the fine carv- 
ings and stained glass and old tombs; and in 
fact, as one Orcadian describes it, "everything 
that the austere taste of Heaven is supposed to 
dislike. " The reformers covered the building 
with a yellowish wash which time has mellowed 
until it offends less than might be supposed. 
The arched doorways of the west front, the 
long, dim aisles, the massive piers supporting 
the Norman arches, and the east window are 
all impressive with a solemn dignity. The 
three fine bells, only one of which has had to 
be recast, were presented by Bishop Robert 
Maxwell in 1525. 

All that remains of the Bishop's Palace, is 
a massive tower or bastion near the cathedral. 
It was to this palace that King Hakon of Nor- 
way came after the disastrous battle of Largs, 
and here, after an illness of two months, he 
died — it is said, of a broken heart. 

247 



CHOSEN DAYS IN SCOTLAND 

Among the spreading trees of a small park 
near the cathedral stands the beautiful ruin 
of the Earl's Palace, begun by Robert Stuart, 
a natural brother of Queen Mary. It was fin- 
ished by Robert Stuart's infamous son, who 
paid with his life the penalty of his tyranny 
over the Orcadians. His oppression and in- 
genious cruelty won for him the name of Black 
Pat, a name which still lives in the tradition 
of the islands. 

Scott in laying one of the scenes of "The 
Pirate" in the great hall of this palace de- 
scribes it: 

"The Earl's Palace forms three sides of an oblong 
square, and has, even its ruins, the air of an elegant 
yet massive structure, uniting as was usual in the resi- 
dence of feudal princes, the character of a palace and 
a castle. A great banqueting hall, communicating 
with several large rounds, or projecting turret-rooms, 
and having at either end an immense chimney, testifies 
the ancient northern hospitality of the earls of Ork- 
ney, and communicates, almost in the modern fashion, 
with a gallery or withdrawing-room, of corresponding 
dimensions, and, having, like the hall, its projecting 
turrets. The lordly hall itself is lighted by a fine 
Gothic window of shafted stone at one end, and is 
entered by a spacious and elegant staiicase, consisting 

248 



IN ORCADIA 

of three flights of stone steps. The exterior orna- 
ments and proportions of the ancient building are also 
very handsome, but, being totally unprotected, this 
remnant of the pomp and grandeur of the earls, who 
assumed the licence as well as the dignity of petty 
sovereigns, is now fast crumbling to decay, and has 
suffered considerably since the date of our story. ' ' 

The government now looks after the build- 
ings and protects them as far as possible from 
further destruction. 

For a trip to investigate the surroundings of 
Kirkwall, the hotel will furnish a wagonette 
drawn by a sedate little horse misnamed Gin- 
ger. The road toward the west goes around 
the base of Wideford Hill from the top of 
which there is a beautiful and extensive view 
of the whole Orcadian archipelago. On a fine 
day one has a glimpse of the Fair Isle at the 
north, and the Sutherland Mountains in the 
south. For a little distance the road skirts 
the tranquil waters of the Bay of Firth, in 
which are two small islands, one of them the 
island of Damnay or St. Adamnan's Isle, 
once the site of a Culdee monastery. After 
passing through the attractive looking village 
of Finstown, the road turns inland, and soon 
reaches Maeshowe, a large mound covered 

249 



CHOSEN DAYS IN SCOTLAND 

with grass and heather, which stands back a 
short distance from the road. The custodian, 
a rather stern and conscientious old Orcadian, 
directs the traveller through a wicket- gate, 
and follows with the key. The door at one 
side of the tomb opens into a long, low, damp 
passage, which must be explored taper in 
hand and with bowed head, and which en- 
ters a rock chamber about fifteen feet square. 
On three sides are small stone cells, probably 
used for burials, as in front of each opening 
is a large stone which evidently was used to 
close it. By the light of candles may be seen 
the Runic inscriptions which were cut on the 
walls a thousand or more years ago. There 
are many hundreds of them, and they are as 
distinct as if they had been carved there yes- 
terday. A quaint dragon is outlined in one 
spot and a cross in another. The age of the 
mound is not known, but it is supposed to have 
been built by the Picts, probably for a burial 
place. The inscriptions were made by the 
Norsemen. It seems wonderfully good to 
emerge from that damp, dark, mysterious 
past, into the light of a modern, peaceful day. 
Even under a somewhat clouded sky the grass 
and the heather look almost vivid in their 

250 



IN ORCADIA 

brightness and newness, and even Ginger 
seems comfortably alive. 

The road continues monotonously between 
foreground stretches of yellow, stubbly fields, 
a mere line in the distance marking the water 
that serves as boundary for some islands loom- 
ing hazily beyond. Here and there huge stone 
slabs rear themselves in dreary solitude, pres- 
aging the famous Standing Stones of Stenness 
which are visible from a great distance as they 
keep guard from their elevation over the two 
beautiful shining lochs of Harray and Sten- 
ness, so close together that they are separated 
only by a very narrow neck of land, the Bridge 
of Brogar, connecting two promontories. On 
the first point is the smaller group, which, 
composed of the larger stones, from twelve to 
fourteen feet high, is in the form of a half- 
circle around a cromlech or altar, and is said 
to have been dedicated to the moon. Apart 
from the circle formerly stood a large stone 
called the Stone of Odin. Through it was a 
circular hole, supposed to have been used for 
securing the victim for sacrifice. In a later 
age it became the custom for lovers to plight 
their troth at the Stone of Odin. They joined 
hands through the hole and made promises 

251 



CHOSEN DAYS IN SCOTLAND 

which were most binding. Notwithstanding 
the sacredness of the ceremony, the couple 
could at will dissolve the vow by going to the 
church of Stenness. Says Dr. Henry: "They 
both came to the kirk of Steinhouse, and after 
entering the kirk, the one went out at the 
south, and the other at the north door, by 
which they were hoi den to be legally divorced, 
and free to make another choice." Many 
years ago the stone was destroyed. 

Across the Bridge of Brogar on the other 
promontory, near which stands a single stone 
about sixteen feet in height, called the "senti- 
nel stone," is the larger group, the Circle of 
Brogar. It consisted originally of some sixty 
stones, of which only twenty-seven remain and 
of these but seventeen are standing. They are 
on a circular platform nearly four hundred 
feet in diameter, surrounded by a wide trench 
or moat. The huge grey slabs, rough-hewn, 
without ornamentation except for the lichens 
which adorn them, with no mark to indicate 
their history, have stood there through cen- 
turies. They have been silent witnesses of 
stirring events that have taken place almost 
in their very shadow, as is testified by the 
numerous burial mounds which are scattered 

252 



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IN ORCADIA 

about the promontory — mounds that mark 
many a scene of viking battle. The heavy 
clouds that often cover the sky above Stenness 
throw upon the stones a grey light well suited 
to their mystery. Their austere setting of 
burial-mounds, wind-swept promontory, and 
dull sky, is relieved by masses of rich purple 
heather which grow and blossom both within 
and without the circle. By some writers the 
placing of these stones has been ascribed to the 
Norsemen, but this must be an error, as such 
circles are found only where a Celtic race has 
lived. 

In "The Pirate," which every Orkney trav- 
eller keeps in hand throughout his trip, Scott 
describes the ghostly circle: 

i ' When Cleveland awoke, the grey dawn was already 
mingling with the twilight of an Orcadian night. He 
found himself on the verge of a beautiful sheet of 
water, which, close by the place where he had rested, 
was nearly divided by two tongues of land that ap- 
proach each other from the opposite of the lake, and 
are in some degree united by the Bridge of Broisgar, a 
long causeway, containing openings to permit the flow 
and reflux of the tide. Behind him and fronting to 
the bridge, stood that remarkable semicircle of huge 
upright stones, which has no rival in Britain, except- 

253 



CHOSEN DAYS IN SCOTLAND 

ing the inimitable monument at Stonehenge. These 
immense blocks of stone, all of them above twelve 
feet, and several being even fourteen or fifteen feet in 
height, stood around the pirate in the grey light of 
the dawning, like the phantom forms of antediluvian 
giants, who, shrouded in the habiliments of the dead, 
came to revisit by this pale light, the earth which 
they had plagued by their oppression and polluted by 
their sins, till they brought down upon it the vengeance 
of long-suffering Heaven. ' ' 

The impression of might and mystery and 
gloom made by these stones never fails to be 
removed somewhat abruptly by the coachman's 
bit of twentieth century information, that the 
lochs are well stocked with trout and that the 
fishing is open to all. He also adds what 
doubtless stirs every fisherman, that " the larg- 
est trout ever seen" was caught in the Loch 
of Stenness. This same monster is shown, 
mounted, in the Stromness Hotel, and it looks 
as if it weighed the twenty-nine pounds that 
are claimed for it. 

Though Stromness is of much more recent 
date than Kirkwall it is quaint and interest- 
ing. It lies on the southwest coast of Main- 
land at the foot of a steep hill on a beautiful, 
land-locked bay, the islands of Hoy and 

254 



IN ORCADIA 

Graemsay, near the entrance, serving to break 
the fury of the Atlantic. In olden times, 
Stromness was the port of call for many ships, 
such as those of the Hudson Bay Company, and 
whaling vessels. In 1780 Captain Cook's two 
ships, the "Discovery" and the " Resolution, " 
lay here for two weeks after circling the globe, 
and this was the last British port visited by 
Sir John Franklin with his two ships, the 
"Erebus" and the "Terror, " as he sailed away 
in search of the Northwest Passage. The 
town's claim to literary interest lies in the 
fact that it was the birthplace of Gow, the 
pirate who was the prototype of Scott's "Cap- 
tain Clement Cleveland," the hero of "The 
Pirate," and of Stewart, on whom Byron 
modelled "Torquil" of "The Island." The 
original of "Noma of the Fitful Head" also 
lived in Stromness. 

The one street of the town, narrow and 
flagged with stone, with wynds or alleys 
branching off on one side, runs for a little over 
a mile along the shore of the harbour. Its 
granite houses are of a softer grey than one 
often sees, and look very foreign with their 
crow-stepped gables. The rear portion of the 
houses on the harbour side stand in the water, 

255 



CHOSEN DAYS IN SCOTLAND 

so that the inmates, if fond of fishing, can in- 
dulge in that pastime from the kitchen win- 
dows. 

The little town has an excellent hotel, and 
also boasts a museum, where the gem of the 
collection is a fragment of the Asterolepis, a 
huge ganoid, found in the vicinity by Hugh 
Miller. The Orkneys are a treasure-ground 
for geologists, and "the neighbourhood of 
Stromness is rich in fossiliferous deposits, be- 
ing in fact one palaeozoic basin, the richest in 
Britain, from which icthyolites enough to sup- 
ply all the antiquarian societies in the world 
can be obtained." On the west coast of 
Mainland is some fine cliff scenery. Here the 
Atlantic has hollowed caves in the solid rock, 
there it has left lofty columns of stone stand- 
ing apart from the shore. The unexpected 
looms up in the northwest at Birsay in the 
extensive ruins of a great palace built by 
Robert Stuart in imitation of the palace at 
Holyrood. To find such signs of pomp and 
luxury on isolated parts of islands so remote 
from to-day's active life and so comparatively 
barren, never ceases to be astonishing even 
though one knows that in olden times they 
were the homes of courts. 

256 



IN ORCADIA 

Though one or two of the Orkneys have 
hills of some eight hundred feet, Hoy is the 
only island with any considerable elevation, the 
Ward Hill having an altitude of fifteen hun- 
dred and sixty-four feet. Hoy has the finest cliff 
scenery in Britain, some of its precipices being 
eleven hundred feet in height. The most west- 
erly point of the island is Roray Cliff, a little 
apart from which stands the Old Man of Hoy, 
a wave- worn column of rock four hundred and 
fifty feet high. It has stood there for centuries, 
and is a well-known landmark of the mariners, 
but as it receives the full force of the Atlantic, 
it will doubtless in time succumb to the waves. 
From the Ward Hill on a clear day is a mag- 
nificent view of the whole Orkney group, and, 
across the shining Pentland Firth, the distant 
shore of Caithness. 

Southeast from the Ward Hill, is the famous 
Dwarfie Stone of Hoy, of which Hugh Miller 
has given a careful description in his "Ram- 
bles of a Geologist," and Scott one of more 
human — or superhuman — interest in "The 
Pirate": 

"I was chiefly fond to linger about the Dwarfie 
Stone, as it is called, a relic of antiquity, which 

257 



CHOSEN DAYS IN SCOTLAND 

strangers look on with curiosity, and the natives with 
awe. It is a huge fragment of a rock, which lies in a 
broken and rude valley, full of stones and precipices, 
in the recesses of the Ward Hill of Hoy. The inside 
of the rock has two couches, hewn by no earthly hand, 
and having a small passage between them. The door- 
way is now open to the weather ; but beside it lies a 
large stone, which, adapted to grooves still visible in 
the entrance, once had served to open and to close this 
extraordinary dwelling, which Trolld, a dwarf famous 
in the northern sagas, is said to have framed for his 
own favourite residence. The lonely shepherd avoids 
the place, for at sunrise, high noon, or sunset, the 
misshapen form of the necromantic owner may some- 
times still be seen sitting by the Dwarfie Stone. . . . 

4 ' Often, when watching by the Dwarfie Stone, with 
mine eyes fixed on the Ward Hill, which rises above 
that gloomy valley, I have distinguished, among the 
dark rocks, that wonderful carbuncle, which gleams 
ruddy as a furnace to them who view it from beneath, 
but has ever become invisible to him whose daring 
foot has scaled the precipices from which it darts its 
splendour. ' ' 

This effect is thought to have been produced 
by the sun's rays striking at a certain angle 
the face of a water-washed rock. 

One of the most satisfactory methods of 
seeing the Orkney group is to take a cruise 

258 



IN ORCADIA 

among the islands in a motor-boat. On an 
August day, as rare as a day in June, a party 
of us, Americans and English, embarked in a 
comfortable motor-boat manned by an old 
Orcadian pilot and an engineer, and glided 
out from Kirkwall Pier, threading our way 
among numerous fishing craft, and past thir- 
teen British war vessels anchored in Kirkwall 
Bay, into the more open spaces among the 
islands. Most picturesque was the scene, the 
water sparkling in the sunshine and ruffled by 
a gentle breeze, the islands cropping up first 
on one hand, then on another, with now and 
then crofters' cottages visible on their yellow 
slopes looking as if they were a part of the 
land on which they stood. On the right was 
the low fertile island of Shapinsay, on which 
stood out in bold relief Balfour Castle, a fine 
building of the mid-nineteenth century. To 
the north was the small island of Gairsay, 
once the home of the old sea-rover, Sweyn 
Asleifson of the Orkneyinga Saga. Then 
came Viera, the green island topped by twelfth 
century ruins, and just beyond it Rousay, 
except for Hoy the highest of the northern 
isles. 

Passing up Rousay Sound the boat stopped 

259 



CHOSEN DAYS IN SCOTLAND 

at a long, rough stone pier on Egilsay, whence 
hundreds of gulls circled away as we stepped 
ashore. For some time the tall tower of a 
building on the summit of the island had 
stood clear against the sky. It was the Church 
of St. Magnus, whose impressiveness makes the 
American traveller feel as if he had crossed 
the ocean for the sole purpose of seeing it, 
and nothing else! The brilliantly shining 
sun was all that redeemed the small group of 
squalid cottages around the landing from 
looking desolate indeed, and, as it was, they 
gave no suggestion of possible comfort within. 
At the top of a gentle slope, covered with 
stubble and dotted with wild flowers, rises 
the old church of which only the walls and 
tower remain, another rude monument of 
olden days. Nothing is known definitely 
about the origin of the building, and anti- 
quarians differ about its age. Its round 
tower, which, even in ruins is forty-five feet 
high, is similar to those of Irish churches 
built in the seventh and eighth centuries, 
making it not impossible that this church was 
built as early as the ninth. Most authorities 
agree that it could not be of later date than 
the eleventh. The Orkneyinga Saga bears its 

260 




Church of St. Magnus, Egilsay, Orkney Islands. 



IN ORCADIA 

testimony when it relates that Earl Hakon, 
going to Egil's Isle to meet his cousin Earl 
Magnus with the object of killing him, first 
searched for his victim in the church. The 
assassination, according to the chronicle, took 
place in 1115, and since there is no record of a 
later church, this is probably the one men- 
tioned in the tale. In contrast to this mur- 
derous reminiscence were the peaceful activities 
of two of the twentieth century islanders 
gathering in their scanty crop of hay within 
the shadow of the walls which gave their name 
(ecclesia) to the island (Egilshay). 

Gliding still northward, the Atlantic on the 
west, the boat passed through a narrow strait 
with the fertile and well-cultivated island of 
Eday on the east, and Westray on the west. 
It was on Eday that Gow, the pirate, was 
captured in 1723. Various kinds of sea birds 
inhabit all the islands, but on the rocky shores 
of Westray there are thousands of cormorants, 
rock-pigeons, kittiwakes, and guillemots. In 
some places they were congregated in such 
numbers at the base of the cliffs that the rocks 
seemed to bristle with long necks. Eday 
terminates in the north in a bold red sandstone 
promontory called Red Head, but the coast 

261 



CHOSEN DAYS IN SCOTLAND 

of Westray has cliffs of a dark grey stone, in 
some places almost black. With open water 
ahead it seemed as if there were nothing be- 
tween us and the North Pole as we sailed 
along the rugged north coast of Westray to 
the village of Pierowall. This town lies at 
the head of a broad bay of the same name. 
It might have been a city of the dead, except 
for the flash of gleaming white bodies of some 
village boys diving from the pier in the warm 
afternoon sunshine. The attraction of Piero- 
wall lies in the ancient ruin of Noltland Castle, 
which stands on a gentle slope half a mile 
from the shore. It is a fortresslike mass 
which looks as if it were built almost wholly 
for defence. The main body of the castle is 
standing, a courtyard at one side, and though 
it is roofless, the floors of the second and third 
stories remain. The great hall and kitchen 
which occupy the ground floor are massive 
and severe, but the second floor shows a slight 
attempt at ornamentation, with deeply em- 
brasured windows and doorways with some 
adornment. The steps of the great winding 
staircase are made of single great slabs of stone 
of which enough remain to make the ascent 
seem a somewhat perilous undertaking. There 

262 



IN ORCADIA 

is a bit of ornamentation on the massive newel- 
post, three feet in diameter. The interest 
that attaches to this castle and that somewhat 
softens its rugged character, is its connection 
with Mary, Queen of Scots, to whose Master 
of the Household, Sir Gilbert Balfour, it 
belonged. Sir Gilbert was ordered to pre- 
pare the stronghold for the reception of Queen 
Mary after her escape from Loch Leven Castle. 
What changes there might have been in his- 
tory if Mary had gone to the Orkneys instead 
of intrusting herself to the tender mercies of 
Queen Elizabeth after the battle of Langside! 
It is difficult to imagine the pleasure-loving 
queen spending even a short time in that stern 
refuge on a barren island at the north of the 
world, with only a view of the broad ocean 
beyond. In the bright sunshine, it is not an 
uncheerful spot, but it has little to commend 
it for long periods of cloud and storm. 

On the way back to the boat a sign on the 
side of a primitive-looking cottage proclaimed 
the Westray Golf Club, but it was the only 
sign of the club that was visible, though the 
rolling character of most of the islands would 
make them eminently suitable for golf. 

Warned by the westering sun we reluct- 

263 



CHOSEN DAYS IN SCOTLAND 

antly hurried past an attractive little hotel 
without stopping for the refreshing afternoon 
tea which is rarely omitted from the day's 
programme in the British Isles, and embarked 
once more with the white-haired Orcadian 
pilot. In the evening calm he gave the wheel 
into the hands of the engineer and came back 
to sit with his passengers, always, however, 
with an experienced eye on the course of the 
boat. Some one spoke of the perfection of 
the day, whose beauty was growing with the 
increasing hours. 

"Yes, " he replied, "it is a chosen day! " 
His strong face and straight figure gave no 
indication of the eighty Orcadian summers 
through which he had thriven. He had spent 
many years on whaling expeditions, but now 
he was glad of the less dangerous occupation 
of navigating a motor-boat. While he talked 
he glanced frequently at the engineer, and 
finally, remarking that the latter was a good 
engineer but no pilot, resumed his place at 
the wheel. 

What seemed to be a flock of ducks on the 
lee side of a small island proved, on nearer 
view, to be a herd of seals sporting in the 
water and lying on the rocky shore. They 

264 



IN ORCADIA 

gave life to a picture that was growing ever 
more beautiful with the going down of the 
sun. Great banks of cloud in the north were 
touched with pink, while the western opening 
between two islands turned first to amethyst 
and then to orange and then to a soft crim- 
son, changing the water to a sea of gold and 
then to a sea of fire. The crimson spread over 
the whole western heaven and sent a glowing 
reflection over the islands. Against the west- 
ern sky stood out the rounded outline of 
Rousay, and the tower of the Church of St. 
Magnus on Egilsay loomed in the distance, 
an impressive witness to the patience that 
builded strong that the centuries might know 
the work. The beauty of the sunset lasted 
for nearly an hour, its vivid colours growing 
soft and softer and finally fading into an 
exquisite dusk. 

With the falling twilight now and again a 
light on some shore gleamed across the water, 
appearing and disappearing at regular inter- 
vals from the novel lighthouses peculiar to the 
Orkneys. But one beauty was lacking to com- 
plete the charm of the scene, and almost with 
the thought the one beauty was added. The 
great disk of the moon came up from behind 

265 



CHOSEN DAYS IN SCOTLAND 

an island, enormous in size and smoky in 
aspect, but, as it climbed the heavens, grow- 
ing smaller and brighter, and giving the last 
touch of delight to what was indeed a "chosen 
day. ' ' The electric lights of the battle-ships 
streamed across the water to meet us as we 
entered Kirkwall Bay, and we stepped ashore 
feeling that we were returning to the world 
from a far-off age and place. 

The day appointed for return to the Scottish 
mainland dawned with a driving rain. Early 
in the morning a steamer came up to the pier 
which extended from the front of the hotel, 
and began to discharge its passengers. They 
were all women, clad in dark greys and 
browns with shawls over their heads and 
shoulders and baskets on their arms. They 
did not seem to mind the rain in the least, 
and walked along in groups laughing and 
talking animatedly. There were three hun- 
dred of them on their way home after the sea- 
son's work in Shetland, where they had been 
packing fish. During the season these girls 
go from port to port, salting and packing the 
catches. It is a rough life with apparently no 
refining influences. A large number of them 
filled the steerage of the little St. OJaf, whose 

Z66 



IN ORCADIA 

wonderful rolling during the storm that ac- 
companied us all the way across the Firth 
completely subdued them. 

The "wind-swept Orkneys" has become a 
by- word, but it is possible to be favoured with 
gentle breezes, and the summer air of the 
islands is delightfully soft and invigorating 
and deliciously pure, like that of Norway. 



267 



CHAPTER XVI 

LOCH MAREE 

THE gate of Inverness opens upon many 
beauties — none lovelier than Loch 
Maree in the northwest Highlands. The 
journey is a combination of rail, coach, and 
steamer. Even railway travel in Scotland 
is delightful, for there is always so much 
variety and often grandeur in the scenery 
that a journey in the train never becomes 
monotonous. At first the arrow points due 
west, and the train skirts the shore of Beauly 
Firth, which is the inner portion of the Moray 
Firth. At the end of the firth is the quiet 
village of Beauly, near which stands Beaufort 
Castle, the seat of the chief of Clan Fraser. 
It is a huge modern building on the site of 
the ancient stronghold. Here are the ruins 
of a priory, said to have been visited by Mary, 
Queen of Scots when she made her northern 
tour and named the village "Beau-Lieu." 
The church of Cillie-Christ, where the Mac- 

268 




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LOCH MAREE 

kenzies were burned, was at Beauly. At 
Dingwall, on the Cromarty Firth, a branch 
line runs to Achnasheen. Dingwall is the 
county town of Ross-shire, and is a placid 
little place, but very old, as its name signifies. 
The Norsemen who sometimes seized all the 
country north of Dingwall, used to hold their 
things or assemblies here. A little northeast 
of Dingwall on the Dornoch Firth, is Skibo 
Castle, the country-seat of Mr. Andrew Car- 
negie. 

Ben Wyvis, "Mountain of Storms," rises on 
the right as the traveller draws toward Ach- 
nasheen, where the coach is waiting. For 
some miles the drive is along a level road fol- 
lowing the shore of a mild loch above which 
hills and mountains rise in every direction. 
It was in this region that I saw a crofter 
standing beside his cottage directing a pair 
of sheep-dogs who were driving two young 
bulls to join a herd of cattle in a distant field. 
The path the bulls had to follow was narrow 
and winding, over boggy moorland, and across 
two or three bridges. They did not seem to 
enjoy being guided by the collies, and fre- 
quently made wild dashes in other directions, 
only to be promptly "rounded up" and started 

269 



CHOSEN DAYS IN SCOTLAND 

along their own path again. The country 
was quite open for some distance just here, 
and their movements could be seen for a 
long time. The dogs were so far away that 
their master directed them with gestures 
and by whistling, and it was wonderful to 
see them obey the slightest motion of his 
hand. 

The road ascends, and from the top of the 
water-shed where begins the descent of the 
steep slope on the other side, it is possible to 
see through the length of Glen Docherty, 
some five or six miles and through the whole 
shining length of mountain-bordered Loch 
Maree. It is a wild scene — the barren glen 
enclosed by rugged mountain-slopes — but the 
beautiful loch with its mountain headlands, 
washed by the gleaming waters and constantly 
drawing nearer, is a vision never to be for- 
gotten. 

At the foot of the glen is Kinlochewe, which, 
meaning "Head of Loch Ewe," lends strength 
to the belief that at some time the salt water 
Loch Ewe, may have extended inland to this 
place. This might well have been, as Loch 
Ewe is only a mile and a half beyond Loch 
Maree, with its basin lying in the same general 

270 



LOCH MAREE 

direction, thus making a " Great Glen" in 
miniature. 

The last bit of the drive is through graceful 
woods of fir, larch, and birch, a marked con- 
trast to the verdureless glen just passed. The 
coach continues the journey to Gairloch along 
the south shore of Loch Maree, but a better 
idea of the loch is gained by boarding the 
"Mabel," tiniest of steamers, which, with a 
few stops along the way, plies to the other end 
of the loch. To the north rises massive Ben 
Slioch, no green covering his precipitous slopes 
of yellow quartz. Beyond Ben Slioch, whose 
rounded summit rises higher than Ben Venue 
or Ben Lomond, is a vast deer forest on the 
northern slopes. 

On the south is a sea of mountain summits, 
not very lofty, to be sure, but of such varied 
form and outline that it is fascinating to 
watch them in their seemingly constant 
changes. At about the middle of the loch's 
length of twelve and a half miles the waters 
widen and make a great sweep on the south 
shore. There is a forest at this point where is 
the hotel at which Queen Victoria once made 
a visit. In this great basin are twenty-four 
islands. The loch is said to derive its name 

271 



CHOSEN DAYS IN SCOTLAND 

from a Saint Maelrubba, who seems to be 
little known, and again from Saint Maree who 
came from Iona and founded a monastery on 
one of these islands. As the remains of a 
monastery are on Isle Maree the saint from 
Iona seems to have the stronger claim. 

Near the monastery was a well, the waters 
of which were supposed to have power to cure 
the insane, and in former times the trees 
around the well were hung with votive rags 
in quite pagan fashion. Our poet Whittier 
wrote a poem on "The Well of Loch Maree: " 

' ' Calm on the breast of Loch Maree 
A little isle reposes ; 
A shadow woven of the oak 
And willow o'er it closes. 

"Within, a Druid's mound is seen, 
Set round with stony warders; 
A fountain, gushing through the turf, 
Flows o'er its grassy borders. 

"And whoso bathes therein his brow, 
With care or madness burning, 
Feels once again his healthful thought 
And sense of peace returning. 

"O restless heart and fevered brain, 
Unquiet and unstable, 
272 



LOCH MAREE 

That holy well of Loch Maree 
Is more than idle fable ! 

"Life's changes vex, its discords stun, 
Its glaring sunshine blindeth, 
And blest is he who on his way 
That fount of healing findeth! 

"The shadows of a humbled will 
And contrite heart are o'er it; 
Go read its legend — 'Trust in God' — 
On Faith's white stones before it." 

Near the chapel or monastery ruin is a little 
burying-ground in which are the tombstones 
of a Danish prince and princess of whom a 
romantic tale is told, resembling the story of 
the return of Theseus after he had slain the 
Minotaur. The prince went away on some 
expedition, and according to their agreement, 
the princess, who lived in the vicinity, was to 
meet her lover on his return on board her 
pleasure boat in Loch Maree. If all was well 
with her the boat was to fly a white flag. To 
his horror the prince, on coming in sight of 
the boat saw over it a black flag which had 
been hung there by the order of the lady, who 
either considered it a jest or wished to try its 
effect on her betrothed. To her sorrow she 

273 



CHOSEN DAYS IN SCOTLAND 

found that the result was almost the same 
as that which followed the forgetfulness of 
Theseus. But instead of falling into the sea, 
as did poor old King iEgeus, the despairing 
lover, supposing that his lady was dead, im- 
mediately plunged a dagger into his heart. 
The princess, shocked by the result of the ex- 
periment, did not survive the anguish of her 
loss, and the lovers were buried in the mon- 
astery graveyard. It would be interesting to 
trace some of these old tales back to their 
beginnings. However improbable they may 
sound, there is truth in the saying about the 
facts of life being stranger than those of fic- 
tion. 

The loch is calm in this wide part where 
the islands float, but the northern end narrows 
between the mountains and becomes wilder. 
At Tollie, the landing-place, the shore is 
thickly wooded with exquisitely delicate silver 
birches. The views at this end of the lake are 
of surpassing beauty, and when the coach is 
driving toward Gairloch, before the road turns 
toward the west, the views back over Loch 
Maree are amply worth turning about to see. 
It is only about a mile and a half from Tollie 
to Poolewe on Loch Ewe, but the road to 

274 




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LOCH MAREE 

Gairloch turns off to the right, climbs to a 
mountain moorland, passes little wild Loch 
Tollie, and reaches the summit of a rocky 
plateau, whose greyness is relieved by the 
heather which grows wherever it can gain 
roothold. Spinning rapidly down the latter 
part of the way, the shore is reached just as 
the disappearing sun is turning the waters of 
the Gairloch to a sea of gold. 

From Gairloch, steamers ply daily to the 
Isle of Skye. 



275 



CHAPTER XVII 

SKYE, THE ISLE OF MIST 

SKYE is often referred to as "The Isle of 
Mist, ' ' but if one has spent days of sun- 
shine on the lovely island, ever after it 
lives in memory radiant with colour, and 
swept by breezes so soft and fresh and pure 
that they might have come from the heights 
of Parnassus. Its rocky and precipitous 
shores, terminating here in rugged cliffs and 
bold headlands and there in lofty mountains, 
reflect the gleam of emerald and sapphire 
seas, while over its high rolling moorland 
dotted with wild flowers, or carpeted with 
purple heather, hangs the bluest of blue skies. 
Other days are forgotten — days when soft 
grey clouds cover the sky, and turn the seas 
to deeper grey, when the dark, shattered 
peaks of the Coolins loom threateningly out 
of their dull background, and even the pointed 
domes of the Red Hills lose their soft pink 
hue. But whether the day is of grey or of 

276 



SKYE, THE ISLE OF MIST 

gold the air is always full of life, and one 
breathes deeply and walks with a springing 
step on the Isle of Skye. 

Picture an island fifty miles long, and from 
three to twenty-five miles across, its shore so 
deeply indented by bays and long tongues of 
water, called lochs, that no part of the land is 
more than three and one-half miles from the 
sea, its high plateau-like surface broken by 
groups of hills and mountains, some of them 
rising from the ocean, and you will have the 
chief physical characteristics of Skye. The 
precipitous cliffs of the coast and the different 
layers of rock, sometimes cropping out on the 
summits of the mountains, give some indica- 
tion of the manner of Skye's creation, and 
make the island a happy hunting-ground for 
geologists. Here sheets of lava have pushed 
their way between layers of basalt, and there 
are the scratches and boulders left by the gla- 
ciers of past ages. Of the island's many pen- 
insulas the two in the north stretch out like 
wings, which probably gave the Gaelic name 
of "Winged Island" from which the present 
name, ' ' Skye, ' ' is descended. 

Swift and well-appointed steamers ply the 
waters around Skye, and also go to the Outer 

277 



CHOSEN DAYS IN SCOTLAND 

Hebrides. On a bright summer day nothing 
can be more delightful than to glide over the 
sparkling waters and to explore some of the 
lochs on which there always rests the atmos- 
phere of mystery and romance peculiar to this 
whole region. It was the home of the gifted 
and interesting Celtic race. For nearly three 
centuries the Norse rovers made it their hunt- 
ing-ground, and the brave galleys of Hakon 
sailed past the east coast, down through the 
narrow strait ever after called Kyleakin, Strait 
of Hakon, and on to Largs, whence only the 
remnant of the mighty fleet returned. 

When James V made a tour through the 
Highlands and Islands, to subdue his unruly 
subjects, which he accomplished by carrying off 
several of the chiefs of the clans as prisoners to 
London, he anchored in Portree Harbour, and, 
with great pomp and magnificence, spread his 
royal tents on the shore where now stands 
Portree, "the port of the king." Following 
the "Forty-five" Skye had such a halo of ro- 
mance cast over it, that the glow never has 
become dim. 

After the battle of Culloden, Charles escaped 
to the Highlands, whence he went to the 
Hebrides, a hunted fugitive with a heavy price 

278 - 




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SKYE, THE ISLE OF MIST 

on his head. Hanoverian militia were hot on 
his track, but he was shielded by one and 
another of the clansmen, who provided him 
with food, kept a boat in readiness, and when 
discovery seemed imminent spirited him away 
to some new hiding-place. For two months 
and a half the pursuit was so close that often 
he could not spend more than a few hours or 
perhaps a night in a place, and it was when 
he seemed about to be cut off by the militia 
that it was arranged that Flora Macdonald, 
daughter of Hugh Macdonald of Armadale in 
Skye, should assist the prince to escape. Her 
father was the commanding officer, but was 
secretly a Jacobite, consequently, when she 
was arrested on her way to Ormaclode to com- 
plete her arrangements, she was released and 
provided with a passport for herself, her Irish 
maid, " Betty Burke," and her attendants. 
She had met the prince once before in Edin- 
burgh, but she had some difficulty in recog- 
nising in the hunted and haggard man to 
whom she was guided in Benbecula the debo- 
nair prince who had been the idol of the gay 
throng at Holyrood. They crossed the Little 
Minch, and tried to land on Vaternish, the 
northwest wing of Skye, but, almost running 

279 



CHOSEN DAYS IN SCOTLAND 

into an encampment of soldiers, they drew out, 
followed by several shots. At last they made 
a landing near Monkstat, the home of Sir 
Alexander Macdonald. When his wife, Lady 
Margaret, learned of the prince's arrival, she 
was thrown into an agony of terror, as she 
was entertaining at dinner an officer of the 
neighbouring camp. Macdonald of Kings- 
burgh, who was one of the guests, was taken 
into his host's confidence, and immediately 
volunteered to take care of the prince. While 
Lady Macdonald and Flora sat at table with 
the officer, Kingsburgh, with a bottle of wine 
and some bread in his pockets, 'went down to 
Prince Charlie, who, in the habiliments of 
"Betty Burke" was hiding among the rocks. 
At nightfall Kingsburgh took the disguised 
prince and Flora to his home, which was a 
few miles farther south. On their arrival 
Kingsburgh 's little daughter ran upstairs to 
tell her mother, who had just gone to bed, 
that her father had brought home "the most 
odd, muckle, ill-shaped old wifie" she had 
ever seen. Lady Kingsburgh 's alarm when 
she discovered who the "old wifie" was gave 
place to apprehension over the state of her 
larder, the simple contents of which she did 

280 









SKYE, THE ISLE OF MIST 

not consider suited to royalty. The prince, 
however, who had suffered great privations, 
enjoyed his supper and the luxury of a night 
between the clean sheets which were sacredly 
preserved as shrouds for Lady Kingsburgh and 
Flora Macdonald. The next afternoon Charles 
went to Portree to take a boat for Raasay. 
At the inn he bade farewell to the brave girl, 
whose courage had brought him through so 
much danger. As he entered the boat, he 
turned with the words, "For all that has hap- 
pened, I hope, Madam, we shall meet in St. 
James's yet." 

In two days he was back in Skye, and after 
some rough travel down through Loch Sliga- 
chan and between the Coolins and the Red 
Hills, he was concealed in a cave on Loch Sca- 
vaig, whence he was taken to the mainland. 
After more weeks of concealment and exciting 
adventures, he sailed on a French ship to the 
Continent. 

For her share in Prince Charles's escape, 
Flora Macdonald was arrested and taken to 
London, but she was soon released to find her- 
self made a heroine. When she returned to 
Skye, she was married to the son of Macdonald 
of Kingsburgh. 

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CHOSEN DAYS IN SCOTLAND 

It was to Kingsburgh that Boswell and 
Johnson came to see Flora Macdonald when 
they made their famous Hebridean tour. Bos- 
well relates, 

"There was a comfortable parlour with a good fire, 
and a dram went round. By and by supper was 
served, at which there appeared the lady of the house, 
the celebrated Miss Flora Macdonald. She is a little 
woman, of a genteel appearance, and uncommonly 
mild and wellbred. To see Dr. Samuel Johnson, the 
great champion of the English Tories, salute Miss 
Flora Macdonald in the Isle of Skye, was a striking 
sight ; for though somewhat congenial in their notions, 
it was very improbable they should meet here. ' ' 

Mrs. Macdonald told them the story of 
Prince Charles's wanderings, and they slept in 
the room occupied by the prince twenty-seven 
years before. 

Under the shadow of the Coolin Hills, on 
the southwest side of Skye, lies a sea inlet, 
Scavaig, the most picturesque loch in Scot- 
land, as Loch Coruisk, to which it leads, is the 
wildest and most desolate. The entrance to 
Loch Scavaig is imposing. To the south lie 
the desolate islands of Eiggand Mull; on each 
side the irregular shore line is rough with rocks 

282 



SKYE, THE ISLE OF MIST 

and caverns, and ahead the towering moun- 
tains seem to close in on the approaching 
steamer. The traveller tries to choose the cav- 
ern that is most likely to have been Prince 
Charlie's hiding-place, but it is not easy to de- 
cide upon it in the sunlight, and more often 
than not a mist adds its obscurity to the vague- 
ness of legend. 

Loch Coruisk is an inland lake separated 
from Loch Scavaig by a few minutes' walk 
over slippery boulders. It lies in a hollow of 
the Coolin Hills, and a bleaker, more forbid- 
ding scene it would be difficult to imagine 
than this sheet of water with black, bare 
mountains of rock, rising precipitously from 
the edge of the loch to a height of over three 
thousand feet. The summits are often veiled 
in mist, but the camera, with keener than 
human eye, will sometimes bring through the 
rain and clouds, though dimly, the outline of 
the splintered pinnacles of the Coolins at the 
north end of the lake. A few stunted, black- 
ened shrubs on an islet, show an effort on 
nature's part to soften the severe and melan- 
choly aspect of the place, but they seem only 
to add another element of gloom, while the 
clumps of pale heather that grow on the round- 

283 



CHOSEN DAYS IN SCOTLAND 

ing plateau of rock from which the loch may 
be viewed, are not cheered to a brighter colour, 
even by steadily falling rain. The rounding 
rock is deeply scratched, and on the rolling sur- 
face of the rocky plateau are great boulders 
which look as if they had been shaped and 
placed there by a Titan's hand. They are a 
material reminder of the mighty glacier which 
aeons before flowed over this very spot. Loch 
Coruisk is best visited by boat from Torrin, 
by Loch Slapin and Loch Scavaig. The pen- 
insula may be crossed by Kilmaree to Cama- 
sunary; but by the latter route we miss the 
magnificent prospect afforded by the trip over 
Loch Scavaig. 

A beautiful sail up the Sound of Sleat, 
through Loch Alsh, and past the round tower 
called Castle Moil, said to have been occupied 
by a Danish princess, who hy a chain stretched 
across the strait held up passing vessels until 
they had paid the toll she exacted, and on into 
the larger sound past the island of Raasay, 
brings the steamer to the lofty headlands which 
guard the entrance of Portree Bay. It is a 
spacious cliff-bound harbour, around one bend 
of which cluster the houses of Portree, "King's 
Harbour." The situation of Portree is com- 

284 




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SKYE, THE ISLE OF MIST 

manding, but there is an uninviting and dis- 
appointing aspect to the town itself from the 
dingy landing-place to the barren town square, 
and as a centre for excursions Sligachan is 
equally convenient, with the additional attrac- 
tion of natural charm. It stands alone in the 
heart of a wild and interesting glen at the foot 
of the Red Hills and the Coolins, near the 
head of Loch Sligachan, a long tongue of water 
winding in from the sea. 

One of the expeditions most rewarding to the 
Skye explorer is to the Quiraing, a craterlike, 
grassy platform on the top of a hill fifteen 
hundred feet high in the extreme north of the 
island. From Portree the way leads for the 
greater distance on the west side of the penin- 
sula of Trotternish, and from the lofty moor- 
land, purple with heather, the eye is charmed 
by a new view at every turn. Sometimes the 
moor stretches out to the horizon on each side; 
then come distant views of a long sea loch 
with its high cliffs, of a lofty headland, of a 
tiny hamlet. Skye is only sparsely settled, but 
crofters' cottages are scattered about in the 
loneliest spots, barren except for the heather 
on which the shaggy Highland cattle graze 
and under which lies the crofter's supply of 

285 



CHOSEN DAYS IN SCOTLAND 

fuel. The dark, thatch-roofed cottages stand 
sometimes in groups, sometimes singly, but 
they always have a look of isolation, as if they 
had been taken up bodily from somewhere else 
and had been deposited but recently in the 
place where they are found. On the other 
hand they look as if they were a part of the 
soil on which they stand, and this gives them 
an air of permanence. A pile of drying peats 
at the side of the house is almost all that im- 
parts to the dwelling anything like a domestic 
air, though occasionally a few chickens, wan- 
dering in and out of the front door, attest; the 
hospitality of the inmates. 

The shining blue waters of Loch Snizort add 
to the loveliness of the scene, and the road 
runs along its east bank, now near the loch, 
now on the high moorland with the water 
far in the distance, and now across a singing 
burn near Kingsburgh where Prince Charles 
spent the night after he had been brought 
from Benbecula by Flora Macdonald. Only 
the site of the house remains, and it is hardly 
worth a visit, even if success attends the effort 
of convincing the chauffeur that the object of 
motoring is not to establish a record but solely 
to enable the traveller to see the country and 

286 



SKYE, THE ISLE OF MIST 

its beauties. At Uig there are a pleasant hotel 
and comfortable-looking cottages. Here the 
road divides, one part going straight east to 
the Quiraing, the other making a circuit 
around the end of the peninsula, passing the 
old church and the churchyard where Flora 
Macdonald's burial-place lies on a wind-swept 
moorland. An Ionic cross stands over the 
grave. It has many visitors. 

Beyond Kilmuir, at the north of the penin- 
sula, are the ruins of Duntulm Castle, once 
the seat of the Macdonalds of the Isles. The 
castle stood on a lofty cliff overlooking the sea, 
and during the centuries that it was occupied, 
it must have been almost impregnable. Be- 
tween the Macdonalds who lived here and the 
Macleods whose seat was and still is Dunvegan 
Castle in the northwest wing of Skye, there 
was always a deadly feud, and in the earlier 
savage times they practised incredible cruel- 
ties on one another. At times so much blood 
was shed, that that might seem the reason 
why the heather of Skye is a richer Durple 
than elsewhere. 

A little farther on is the Quiraing, that won- 
derful, pinnacle-girdled, grassy hollow, high 
above the sea, before whose outer rampart the 

287 



CHOSEN DAYS IN SCOTLAND 

mist shifts and deploys like filing regiments 
in action. The fog floods the crater and piles 
up on the slopes until only the heather under 
foot is visible, and then just as despair of see- 
ing the coveted view fills the would-be ob- 
server, the sun makes a sudden rift in the 
masses of grey. Then they close again and 
seem denser than ever; then comes a wider 
rift and the sun darts his rays more and more 
deeply into the thick grey masses until he dis- 
closes stretches of heather-covered plain far 
beneath and occasional gleams from two small 
shimmering lochs. The contest rages. Once 
and again the mist lifts and closes in, and it 
is hard to tell how the day will go. But the 
sun must triumph, and at last he tears the 
thick grey masses asunder and sends them in 
clouds and misty shreds billowing and darting 
and swooping away. The struggle recalls 
Wordsworth's description of a similar scene in 
the "Excursion": 

"Oh! 'twas an unimaginable sight! 
Clouds, mists, streams, watery rocks, and emerald turf, 
Clouds of all tincture, rocks, and sapphire sky, 
Confused, commingled, mutually inflamed, 
Molten together, and composing thus, 
Each lost in each, that marvellous array, 

288 



SKYE, THE ISLE OF MIST 

Of temple, palace, citadel, and huge 
Fantastic pomp of structure without name, 
In fleecy folds voluminous, enwrapped. 

When this noiseless battle of the elements is 
over, what a view lies before the eyes! At 
the right are detached mountainous hills over 
whose summits rise the distant tips of the Storr 
Rock's pinnacles. On the left is the range of 
the Quiraing, topped with rocky spires, ragged 
walls, and huge masses of weird shapes. 
Black-faced sheep graze on the green lower 
slopes which lead down to the wide, purple- 
mantled plain stretching to the sea. Across 
its shimmering green waters are visible the 
rounded outlines of the mountains of Ross- 
shire on the mainland of Scotland. 

The sheep have laid out the trails into the 
crater, and the wanderer will not be led astray 
if he follows one of the paths which run along 
the grassy slope. It winds across the ravines 
and gullies, down which rush merry little 
burns, until it reaches the towering pinnacles 
and the great bastions and escarpments of 
rock. At the most northerly end the view 
widens, showing more of the sea and the island- 
dotted shore. The Quiraing proper is a huge, 
craterlike hollow, covered with the greenest 

289 



CHOSEN DAYS IN SCOTLAND 

grass in peaceful contrast to the lofty crags 
that tower above it in crude strength. The 
sheep reach it through a narrow passage be- 
tween the rocks, but their attitude toward its 
content is far different from that of the trav- 
eller who finds in this fantastic, contradictory 
spot the realization of some childish dream of 
giant's horrors and of fairy's joys. 

One of the most fascinating and romantic 
spots in Skye, is the seat of Macleod of Mac- 
leod, Dunvegan Castle, said to be the oldest 
inhabited castle in Scotland. It stands on a 
rocky promontory near the head of Dunvegan 
Loch on the northwest wing of Skye. The 
beautiful park, whose avenue, two miles long, is 
the approach to the Castle, accords with the 
present day as did the barren moorland on 
which its walls looked down in a former age. 
The grey mass has an ancient and command- 
ing aspect, and though it is in no sense 
a ruin, the massive walls and towers seem a 
part of the rock on which they have stood for 
more than a thousand years. Formerly the 
only access to the fortress was on the side to- 
ward the sea, but now a bridge connects the 
rock with the mainland and the entrance is 
on that side. By the kindness of Macleod, 

290 




Dunvegan Castle. 



SKYE, THE ISLE OF MIST 

visitors to the island are allowed to see the 
castle and grounds, a privilege which so far 
seems not to have been abused. The fortress- 
like character of the building is attested not 
only by its position, but also by the thick 
walls of the keep, the oldest part of the castle, 
and the dungeon, to which the prisoners were 
let down through a hole in the floor above. 
We can well imagine that to the unfortunates 
committed to their depths, such dungeons were 
the most terrible and hopeless kind. That 
this one was used, there can be no doubt, since 
the ferocious acts of cruelty committed by the 
Macleods and Macdonalds against each other 
in the days of barbarism are authentic. The 
drawing-room, a delightful apartment, spa- 
cious and comfortable and stately, is in the 
old keep. The slits which formerly lighted 
it have been widened to deep window em- 
brasures, which, as the walls of the keep are 
ten feet thick, make deep recesses through 
which the light pours in giving an air of cheer- 
fulness which the ancient hall could not have 
possessed in the grim past. 

Among the precious relics of the castle the 
one most treasured is the Fairy Flag, said to 
have been given to one of the chiefs by his 

291 



CHOSEN DAYS IN SCOTLAND 

fairy wife. She gave it the power, if invoked, 
of coming to the assistance of the chief or his 
clan three times, after which the flag and its 
bearer would disappear. It is said to have re- 
sponded to two calls, one when it brought vic- 
tory to the Macleods while having a bitter 
fight with their hereditary foes, the Macdon- 
alds. The great drinking-horn of Rory Mor 
(Roderick Macleod), which, filled with wine, 
the heir was supposed, on coming of age, to 
drain at a single draught, and a cup of bog 
oak chased with silver are two more prized 
relics. The cup is said to be a chalice, dating 
back to the tenth century, though the inscrip- 
tion, which is supposed to have been added 
later, bears the date, 1493. 

Among the interesting family portraits on 
the dining-room walls are two beautiful ex- 
amples of Raeburn's skill and two by Allan 
Ramsay. A case in the same room contains a 
lock of Prince Charles's hair, "silky and gold- 
en, ' ' a waistcoat which belonged to him, and 
other treasures. Mrs. Macleod, of gracious 
and gentle charm, led me to the ancient 
postern or sea gate, which frames a far-reach- 
ing view of the loch. Unfortunately the tide 
was out at the time. While the fairy tower, 

292 



SKYE, THE ISLE OF MIST 

which dates from the sixteenth century, was 
under inspection, the youngest member of the 
Macleod family, the little granddaughter of 
the house, appeared in her perambulator, and 
it was amazing how this morsel of modern 
human interest could make musty and unin- 
teresting even this fine tower with its haunted 
room where Boswell and Johnson, and later 
Sir Walter Scott, slept. 

It was in the year 1814, during that cruise 
with the Lighthouse Commissioners when he 
visited the Orkney Islands, that Sir Walter 
visited Skye. He has described his night in 
the haunted chamber: * ' I took possession about 
the witching hour. Except, perhaps, some 
tapestry hangings, and the extreme thickness 
of the walls, which argued great antiquity, 
nothing could have been more comfortable 
than the interior of the apartment; but if you 
looked from the windows the view was such as 
to correspond with the highest tone of super- 
stition. An autumnal blast, sometimes clear, 
sometimes driving mist before it, swept along 
the troubled billows of the lake, which it occa- 
sionally concealed and by fits disclosed. The 
waves rushed in wild disorder on the shore, 
and covered with foam the steep pile of rocks 

293 



CHOSEN DAYS IN SCOTLAND 

which, rising from the sea in forms somewhat 
resembling the human figure, have obtained 
the name of Macleod's Maidens, and in such 
a night seemed no bad representation of the 
Norwegian goddesses called Choosers of the 
Slain, or Riders of the Storm. Here was 
something of the dignity of danger in the 
scene; for on a platform beneath the windows 
lay an ancient battery of cannon, which had 
sometimes been used against privateers even 
of late years. The distant scene was a view 
of that part of the Cuchullin Mountains which 
are called, from their form, Macleod's Dining 
Tables. The voice of an angry cascade termed 
the nurse of Rorie Mhor, because that chief 
slept best in its vicinity, was heard from time 
to time mingling its notes with those of wind 
and wave. Such was the haunted room at 
Dun vegan. " 

The Macleods are deeply interested in the 
welfare of their tenant crofters, and do all in 
their power to improve their condition. Crof- 
ting life in Skye has an economic interest. 
The people would be called small farmers if 
they owned the land; as they rent it, each 
taking only from one to five acres, they are 
called crofters. The crofters of Skye pay an 

294 



SKYE, THE ISLE OF MIST 

average, perhaps, of between two and three 
pounds for two or three acres of land. They 
live in small settlements, for the sake of neigh- 
bourhood feeling, apparently, and in driving 
through the country it is possible to scent a 
crofter's cottage from afar, by the smell of 
burning peat, an odor which custom makes 
as agreeable as that of its companion fragrance, 
bog myrtle. Peat is the only fuel, and peat- 
cutting seems to call upon the activities of the 
whole family. It is a common sight to see 
both men and women out on the moor, work- 
ing or standing or even sitting on the ground, 
quite unprotected from the driving rain, and 
as unconcerned as if they were ducks. 

There is a comfortable inn at Dunvegan, 
and if one wishes to spend some time away 
from the bustling, hurried world, there is no 
place more delightful than this breezy point, 
with its ozone-filled air, its charming views of 
land and water, its magnificent sunsets and 
its unusual excursions by land and sea. But 
Dunvegan is not the place for the gregarious 
nor for the excitement-loving. Its rest and 
peace are for those who find companionship in 
the beauties of nature. 

One of the marked features of Skye is the 

295 



CHOSEN DAYS IN SCOTLAND 

view from almost every part of the island of 
that group of shattered peaks called the Coolin 
(Cuchullin) Hills. They are so constantly in 
sight that they exert a charm upon even the 
withdrawing traveller, making him turn back 
to see if they are still there and if they present 
another new and different aspect. 

In sailing along the east coast of Trotter- 
nish, there is presented a superb view of the 
slopes and cliffs of the Storr rocks whose high- 
est points reach an altitude of twenty-three 
hundred and sixty feet. They terminate in 
the Old Man of Storr, a column or monolith 
a hundred and sixty feet tall, with tumbled 
boulders and peaks of fantastic shapes all about 
its base. The Old Man stands so high that 
he, too, is visible from almost all parts of the 
island. 

From Skye, the Outer Hebrides may be 
visited, but they make but small appeal to 
tourists, though these long, low-lying islands 
have their share in the romance of Prince 
Charlie's wanderings. 

Skye is always left with regret, and the trav- 
eller finds himself filled with wonder as to 
whether there can be found any other place 
half so charming. He finds himself quoting 

296 




H 

Hi 

H 

CO 

<l 

o 

fc 

> 

|3 

ft 

o 

H 

« 
W 
H 

CO 

O 

o 

« 

W 
o 
o 

Hi 

w 

ft 



SKYE, THE ISLE OF MIST 

the "Lament of MacCrimmon, " sung as his 
Highland clan set forth to join the Stuart 
cause in the "Forty-five." 

"Farewell to each cliff, on which breakers are foaming; 
Farewell each dark glen in which red deer are roaming; 
Farewell, lonely Skye — to lake, mountain and river — 
Return — return — return shall we never!" 

The sail from Portree north to Gairloch is 
in the late afternoon, when the hills of the 
Ross-shire coast constantly change in form and 
colour beneath the sunset light. But in going 
south, the steamer passes through Loch Alsh, 
where Skye at Kyleakin is only a half mile 
from the mainland, through Kyle Rhea, and 
on past southern Skye, through the Sound of 
Sleat. Almost the whole time the serrated 
peaks of the Coolin Hills, dark and forbidding, 
the rounded yellowish cones of the Red Hills 
and the individual mass of Blaaven seem con- 
stantly to alter their positions. The coast of 
the mainland is broken by numerous long sea 
lochs. Between Loch Nevis — the Loch of 
Heaven — and Loch Hourn — the Loch of Hell 
— is a wild, mountainous region, the highest 
peak of which rises to an altitude of thirty- 
three hundred and forty-three feet. Both 

297 



CHOSEN DAYS IN SCOTLAND 

lochs are overhung by precipitous mountain 
masses, and are so similar that there seems 
to be no reason for a difference of name or any 
opportunity for a Purgatorial Between. 

In Christopher North's Nodes Ambrosiance 
there is a "Boat Song" whose yearning ex- 
presses the emotion of even other than the 
Highland-born as they look back upon the 
haze-hung cliffs of Skye. 

"From the lone shieling of the misty island 

Mountains divide us, and the waste of the seas, 
But yet the blood is strong, the heart is Highland, 
And we in dreams behold the Hebrides. 



298 



CHAPTER XVIII 

GLENCOE AND THE LAND OF LORNE 

IkTO student of Scotland's history, and no 
X seeker into the varieties of her scenery, 
will omit going to the Pass of Glencoe, 
and when he finds himself at Fort William 
after examining the surrounding country, 
Lochaber, he realises that now is the appointed 
time. If he is blessed with happy meetings, 
he may have the fortune of a recent tourist 
who stepped into the steamship office at Fort 
William and saw no one to satisfy his inquiring 
mind. In a moment, however, a sturdy little 
figure in a blue sailor suit walked in with much 
dignity and sedateness, saying, slowly, "No- 
bud-dee-in. " The little man is Johnnie Mac- 
phee, aged three, son of the agent. The Scot 
assumes responsibility at an early age! 

For some distance after leaving Fort Will- 
iam, old Ben Nevis towers above on the 
east. 

At the summit of Ben Nevis is an observa- 

299 



CHOSEN DAYS IN SCOTLAND 

tory, the view from which is described by Sir 
Archibald Geikie: 

"While no sound falls upon his ear, save now and 
then a fitful moaning of the wind among the snow- 
rifts of the dark precipice below, let him try to analyse 
some of the chief elements of the landscape. It is easy 
to recognise the more marked heights and hollows. 
To the south, away down Loch Linnhe, he can see the 
hills of Mull and the Paps of Jura closing the hori- 
zon. Westward, Loch Eil seems to lie at his feet, 
winding up into the lonely mountains, yet filled twice 
a day with the tides of the salt sea. Far over the 
hills, beyond the head of the loch, he looks across 
Arisaig, and can see the cliffs of the Isle of Eigg and 
the dark peaks of Rum, with the Atlantic gleaming 
below them. Farther to the northwest the blue range 
of the Coolin Hills rises along the sky-line, and then, 
sweeping over all the intermediate ground, through 
Arisaig and Knoidart and the Clanranald country, 
mountain rises beyond mountain, ridge beyond ridge, 
cut through by dark glens, and varied here and there 
with the sheen of lake and tarn. Northward runs the 
mysterious straight line of the Great Glen, with its 
chain of lochs. Thence to east and south the same 
billowy sea of mountain-tops stretches out as far as eye 
can follow it — the hills and glens of Lochaber, the 
wide green strath of Spean, the grey corries of Glen 
Treig and Glen Nevis, the distant sweep of the moors 

300 



GLENCOE AND THE LAND OF LORNE 

and mountains of Brae Lyon and the Perthshire 
Highlands, the spires of Glencoe, and thence round 
again to the blue waters of Loch Linnhe. ' ' 

Loch Linnhe narrows between lofty banks, 
and from it opens like a pocket Loch Leven — 
not the fresh water loch connected with Queen 
Mary's tragedy, but an arm of the western sea, 
making its way inland. At Ballachulish, a 
town of slate quarries, a coach is waiting to 
take passengers through the Pass of Glencoe. 

The story of the Massacre of Glencoe, which 
took place in 1692, reveals a baseness and a 
savagery on the part of the perpetrators not 
surpassed in the settling of the deadly clan 
feuds in the earlier and supposedly more bar- 
baric days. The Glencoe Massacre, moreover, 
was carried out by the order of the govern- 
ment — William Ill's government. It was after 
the battle of Killiecrankie, when the Jacobites 
were without a leader. The government 
offered full pardon to all the Jacobite chiefs 
who would take the oath of allegiance before 
December 31, 1691. A good many of the 
chiefs held back, but before the end of the 
year all had taken the oath except two Mac- 
donalds, Glengarry and Maclan of Glencoe. 

301 



CHOSEN DAYS IN SCOTLAND 

Maclan was a proud old man, but he knew 
that for the sake of his clan he must take the 
oath, so on December 31 he humbled his pride, 
and went to Fort William. There he found 
that the Governor, Colonel Hill, was not able 
to administer the oath, not being a sheriff. 
The colonel wrote a letter of explanation to 
the sheriff, and gave it to Maclan, who hurried 
south along snowy roads and over snow-covered 
mountain passes to Inverary. The distance is 
considerably over eighty miles, and at that 
stormy time of year, the old chiefs journey 
amid snow and ice must have been terrible. 
The sheriff was at his home some distance 
from Inverary, so it was impossible for the 
now desperate man to take the oath till Janu- 
ary 6. This belated oath did not content the 
Master of Stair, who had been waiting for an 
opportunity to make an example of some of 
the clans, nor did it satisfy the Earl of Bread- 
albane, one of the Campbells, who were 
enemies of Glencoe. By command of the 
Master of Stair, on the first of February, Cap- 
tain Campbell of Glenlyon with a troop of a 
hundred and twenty soldiers of Argyll's regi- 
ment, entered the glen with orders to kill all 
the inhabitants under seventy years of age. 

302 



GLENCOE AND THE LAND OF LORNE 

The captain was to wait till another body 
of soldiers came to guard the exits of the glen, 
so that none might escape. When Glenlyon 
arrived with his men, he quieted the alarm of 
the Macdonalds, by saying that they had come 
in peace to stay there until Fort William was 
ready to receive them. The people of the glen 
made them welcome and entertained them as 
guests for the next twelve days. The time 
appointed for the slaughter was at five o'clock 
in the morning of February 13. It was 
storming heavily and had been all night, when 
the signal was fired. The soldiers began by 
murdering their hosts in their beds. The aged 
chief Maclan, was summoned to his door, and 
was shot as he was inviting his guests to enter. 
Not even women or children were spared. 
The firing of guns and the flames of the houses 
which had been set on fire, aroused the re- 
mainder of the inhabitants, who, under cover 
of the storm, fled, scantily clothed, to the sur- 
rounding hills. Many of them died from 
exposure. Through a fortunate mismanage- 
ment, Glenlyon and his men succeeded in des- 
patching only about thirty-eight of the clan. 
Among those who escaped were two of Mac- 
Ian's sons. With the houses burned and all 

303 



CHOSEN DAYS IN SCOTLAND 

the cattle driven away, Glencoe was left in- 
deed a valley of desolation. 

When this atrocious deed became known, it 
was not unnatural that it should evoke criti- 
cism, and a trial of the perpetrators of the act 
was recommended! But nothing was done, 
and King William's view of the massacre is 
made clear by the pension he bestowed on the 
Master of Stair. 

The coach road from Ballachulish runs for 
some miles along the shore of Loch Leven. 
There are lovely views of the green heights 
across the water and of the mountains of Glen- 
coe. On an island are the remains of a 
Columban monastery. The red roofs of In- 
vercoe House, the seat of Lord Strathcona and 
Mount Royal, a Canadian whose title is of 
recent creation, makes a bright bit of colour 
amid the rich green of the lofty wooded bank 
on which it stands. The road, after crossing 
the river Coe, or Cona Water as it is more 
poetically called, makes a sharp turn up the 
glen, looking in the distance like a ribbon as it 
follows the windings of the river. A few years 
ago, a descendant of the Glencoe Macdonalds 
erected an Iona cross to mark the scene of the 
Massacre. It was not necessary; some of the 

304 




Scene of the Glencoe Massacre. 



GLENCOE AND THE LAND OF LORNE 

ruined cottages still stand, mute witnesses of 
the outrage of that terrible morning. Descrip- 
tions of Glencoe usually speak of it as a scene 
of utter desolation, a "Glen of Weeping." 
Macaulay calls it "the very Valley of the 
Shadow of Death. " These names might be 
fitting on a gloomy winter day, but surely the 
glen on a midsummer afternoon, even under 
a heavily clouded sky, with occasional dashes 
of rain, has a beauty and grandeur that do not 
suggest mournfulness more than do other 
grandly beautiful solitudes. A low mound 
running through the lower part of the vale is 
covered with the greenest of grass and scattered 
groups of trees. On each side and beyond, 
the lofty mountains, closing in, are covered 
with a mantle of greenest velvet. To be sure 
it looks no thicker than velvet, and one feels 
that the slightest scratch would reveal the na- 
tive rock beneath, yet just that bit of verdure 
softens the steep ridges so that they do not 
seem desolate. Farther up the pass, the col- 
ours of the lofty slopes change to grey and 
brown, relieved by occasional bits of green. 
There, indeed, the scene becomes so majestic- 
ally solemn, that by some it might be thought 
desolate, but the sunshine that follows rain, 

305 



CHOSEN DAYS IN SCOTLAND 

falling on the still waters of a little loch, gives 
an atmosphere of warmth and peace that do 
not leave room for loneliness or even suggest 
weeping. 

Was it Rochefoucauld who said "I am never 
less alone than when I am alone"? He would 
have liked the solitude of Glencoe. 

Back to Ballachulish and Loch Linnhe, and 
on toward the ocean, and the steamer passes 
Stalker Castle, built by Stewart of Appin as a 
hunting-lodge for his relative, James IV. On 
the long, low green island of Lismore, which 
means Great Garden, are the remains of an old 
Norse watch-tower and of an early monastery 
where dwelt the Bishops of Argyle. A 
wooded peninsula at the mouth of Loch Etive 
bears the ruins of Dunstaffnage Castle, for a 
long time the fortress-capital of the Scottish 
kingdom before the Pictish kingdom was 
united with it. Here was kept the sacred 
Scottish coronation stone, said to have been 
brought from Ireland to lona, afterward 
placed in Dunstaffnage, and when Kenneth 
M'Alpin made Forteviot the capital of the 
united kingdom of Picts and Scots, removed 
to the Abbey of Scone, whence in 1296, King 
Edward I removed it to England. The castle, 

306 



GLENCOE AND THE LAND OF LORNE 

which is rectangular, with towers at three 
corners, evidently was built as a mighty strong- 
hold. Its base is a lofty rock and it is care- 
fully protected by escarpments. It is an an- 
cient and picturesque old pile surrounded by 
trees. Here Flora Macdonald, after assisting 
in the escape of Prince Charles, was imprisoned 
for a time. Two miles up Loch Etive, which 
is another pocket like Loch Leven, the water 
comes roaring down the Ossianic Falls of 
Lora. 

Mountains are all about. At the east rise 
the twin peaks of Ben Cruachan, on the other 
shore the slopes of Morven are dark against 
the sky, and farther south are the heights of 
the Ross of Mull. Oban Bay is a beautiful 
sight when the sun is setting across the water, 
and shining upon the yachts and small boats 
of all kinds in the broad roadstead. The town 
lies around a crescent-shaped bay with wooded 
hills rising at the back and in front, and across 
a mile of water, the long island of Kerrera. 
Oban is chiefly a summer resort. It is often 
called the capital of the Western Highlands, 
and it owes a great deal of its popularity to 
the fact that it is one of Scotland's many ex- 
cellent centres for excursions by both land and 

307 



CHOSEN DAYS IN SCOTLAND 

sea. Near by is Dunollie Castle, reached by a 
walk of a mile along the shore. It makes a 
pleasant stroll with views of the land across 
the Firth of Lome. Dunollie Castle, of which 
little more than the ivy-clad keep remains, was 
the ancient seat of the Macdougals, the Lords 
of Lome, one of whose descendants occupies 
Dunollie House not far away. A family treas- 
ure is the historic ''Brooch of Lome." After 
Robert the Bruce was defeated by Edward I 
at Methven, he fled to the Highlands, where 
he was beset by many foes, among them the 
chief of the Macdougalls. The hand-to-hand 
encounter he had with the Macdougalls is de- 
scribed by Walter Scott: 

' ' He directed his men to retreat through a narrow 
pass, and, placing himself last of the party, he fought 
with and slew such of the enemy as attempted to press 
hard on them. Three followers of Macdougall, a 
father and two sons called McAndrosser, all very 
strong men, when they saw Bruce thus protecting the 
retreat of his followers, made a vow that they would 
either kill this redoubted champion or make him pris- 
oner. The three rushed on the King at once. Bruce 
was on horseback in the straight pass betwixt a pre- 
cipitous rock and a deep lake. He struck the first 
man who came up and seized the horse's rein such a 

308 



GLENCOE AND THE LAND OF LORNE 

blow with his sword as cut off his hand and freed the 
bridle. The man bled to death. The other brother 
had grasped Bruce in the meantime by the leg, and 
was attempting to throw him from horseback. The 
King, setting spurs to his horse made the animal sud- 
denly spring forward so that the Highlander fell under 
the horsed feet; and, as he was endeavouring to rise 
again, Bruce cleft his head in two with his sword. 
The father, seeing his two sons thus slain, flew desper- 
ately at the King, and grasped him by the mantle so 
close to his body that he could not have room to wield 
his long sword. But with the heavy pommel of that 
weapon, or, as others say, with an iron hammer which 
hung at his saddle-bow, the King struck his third 
assailant so heavy a blow that he dashed out his 
brains. Still, however, the Highlander kept his dying 
grasp on the King's mantle ; so that, to be free of the 
dead body, Bruce was obliged to undo the brooch or 
clasp by which it was fastened, and leave that, and 
the mantle itself, behind him. The brooch which fell 
thus into the possession of Macdougall of Lorn is still 
preserved in that ancient family as a memorial that 
the celebrated Robert Bruce once narrowly escaped 
falling into the hands of their ancestor. ' ' 

This combat is said to have taken place near 
a spot about thirty miles east of Oban. The 
brooch is described in the "Lord of the 
Isles": 

309 



CHOSEN DAYS IN SCOTLAND 

"The Brooch of burning gold 
That clasped the chieftain's mantle-fold, 
Wrought and chased with rare device, 
Studded fair with gems of price, 
On the varied tartans beaming, 
As thro' night's pale rainbow gleaming." 

Loch Awe, more gentle in aspect than the 
more northern lochs, and thought to rival Loch 
Lomond in peaceful charm, is worth seeing. 
The magnificent Pass of Brander, between the 
north end of Loch Awe and Loch Etive, was 
the scene of another contest between Robert 
Bruce and the Macdougalls, in which the lat- 
ter were thoroughly worsted. On this occasion 
there was a considerable force of men on each 
side. 

The sail from Oban to Glasgow through the 
Crinan Canal, the Kyles of Bute, and the Clyde 
is an experience that can be enjoyed even by 
those who are not good sailors. But the most 
interesting excursion of all that Oban offers, 
takes the wanderer to the Isles of Staffa and 
Iona, lying off the seaward shore of Mull. It 
is an all-day sail, and the boat can stay for so 
short a time that those who are especially in- 
terested in the Sacred Isle of Iona would do 
well to spend a night on the island. 

310 



GLENCOE AND THE LAND OF LORNE 

The sail from Oban through the Sound of 
Mull is strikingly beautiful. On crossing the 
Firth of Lome Dunollie rises near with Dun- 
staffnage in the distance. Upon the Lady 
Rock, covered at high tide, Maclean of Duart, 
who seems to have been a husband who believed 
in being the master of his own house at any 
cost, left his wife, a daughter of the Earl of 
Argyle, to be swept off by the rising waters. 
Fortunately the lady was rescued by some 
fishermen, to the confusion of Maclean, who 
was pursued and killed by one of his brothers- 
in-law. On the east rise many mountain 
summits over which Ben Cruachan towers. 
Entering the Sound of Mull, on the right rise 
the mountains of Morven, on the left those of 
the Isle of Mull, the cliffs on both sides being 
crowned by the ruins of ancient castles. Duart 
Castle is on a rocky promontory of Mull, and 
on an island near is the Memorial Beacon raised 
to William Black who has pictured the beauties 
of western Scotland in many of his novels. 
On the Morven cliffs is the old castle of Ard- 
tornish, where Scott laid the opening scene of 
4 'Lord of the Isles." 

■ 'Wake, Maid of Lorn!' the Minstrels sung. 
Thy rugged halls, Artornish! rung, 
311 



CHOSEN DAYS IN SCOTLAND 

And the dark seas, thy towers that lave, 
Heaved on the beach a softer wave, 
As 'mid the tuneful choir to keep 
The diapason of the Deep. 
Lulled were the winds on Inninmore, 
And green Loch-Alline's woodland shore, 
As if wild woods and waves had pleasure 
In listing to the lovely measure. 
And ne'er to symphony more sweet 
Gave mountain echoes answer meet, 
Since, met from mainland and from isle, 
Ross, Arran, Hay, and Argyle, 
Each minstrel's tributary lay 
Paid homage to the festal day. ' ' 

Farther along on Mull is the ruin of Aros 
Castle, once a stronghold of the Lords of the 
Isles. On the Ardnamurchan shore, the most 
westerly point of Scotland's mainland, is Min- 
garry Castle, named in Scott's poem as one 
boundary of the possessions of the Lords of the 
Isles. It has been a ruin for nearly three cen- 
turies. 

"From where Mingarry, sternly placed, 
O'erawes the woodland and the waste, 
To where Dunstaffnage hears the raging 
Of Connal with his rocks engaging. ' ' 

Round the northern end of Mull there are 
distant views of the heights on Eigg and Rum 

312 



GLENCOE AND THE LAND OF LORNE 

and of Skye's Coolin Hills, and, turning the 
back on them, to the south is the Isle of Ulva, 
whose chief is the hero of "Lord Ullin's 
Daughter. " 

"The shores of Mull on the eastward lay, 
And Ulva dark and Colonsay, 
And all the group of islets gay 

That guard famed Staffa round. 
Then all unknown its columns rose, 
Where dark and undisturbed repose 

The cormorant had found, 
And the shy seal had quiet home, 
And weltered in that wondrous dome, 
Where, as to shame the temples decked 
By skill of earthly architect, 
Nature herself, it seemed, would raise 
A Minster to her Maker's praise! 
Not for a meaner use ascend 
Her columns, or her arches bend; 
Nor of a theme less solemn tells 
That mighty surge that ebbs and swells, 
And still, between each awful pause, 
From the high vault an answer draws, 
In varied tone prolonged and high, 
That mocks the organ's melody. 
Nor doth its entrance front in vain 
To old Iona's holy fane, 
That Nature's voice might seem to say, 
' Well hast thou done, frail Child of clay ! 
Thy humble powers that stately shrine 
Tasked high and hard — but witness mine!" 
313 



CHOSEN DAYS IN SCOTLAND 

Staffa rises rather abruptly from the water 
and is only about a mile and a half in circum- 
ference. A great red rowboat from the island 
of Gometra, five miles away, takes ashore pas- 
sengers from the steamer. The island is formed 
of basaltic columns like those of the Giant's 
Causeway in Ireland, where they are found on 
a much grander scale. It is said that the col- 
umnar formation extends under the water all 
the way between the two places. They are 
wonderful, these columns, for the most part 
hexagonal in shape and fitting together so 
closely that there is not room for a sheet of 
paper to be slipped between them. There are 
several caves in Staffa, but the grandest of 
them and the one most visited is Fingal's Cave, 
named from the Ossianic hero, King of Mor- 
ven. Miss Gordon Cumming has given a rare- 
ly beautiful and poetic description of Fingal's 
Cave. 

"A wondrous fane indeed, with the perfect sym- 
metry of its countless gigantic columns, and marvel- 
lous roof formed (like the strange pavement outside, 
and like the gallery on which we stand) of the broken 
bases of hexagonal pillars, which fit together in fault- 
less honeycomb. The colouring, too, is a marvel of 
beauty, for this basalt combines every tint of rarest 

314 



GLENCOE AND THE LAND OF LORNE 

marble that ever human skill brought together to 
decorate the costliest temple. Warm red and brown 
and richest maroon tones prevail, but the whole gleams 
with green and gold lichen and sea-weed, while here 
and there a mosaic of pure white lime has filtered 
through, encrusting the pillars, which seemed trans- 
formed to snowy alabaster. Ever and anon, the 
innermost depths of the great chancel gleam with a 
sudden flash, as the clear green wave comes swelling 
in, overflowing the causeway of broken pillars that 
forms so marvellous a pavement, and breaking in pure 
white foam, which shows more dazzling against the 
gloom of that sombre background, and casting trem- 
bling reflecting lights, which trickle and waver over 
every hidden crevice of roof, or clustered columns. 
Quick as the thunder-roar follows the lightning flash 
is that white gleam succeeded by a booming sound, 
louder than the thunder itself, yet mellow as the 
sweetest note of some huge organ, and wakening echoes 
deeper and more sonorous than ever throbbed through 
dim cathedral aisles ; — echoes which linger and repeat 
themselves on every side, and are but hushed for one 
moment of awful silence while the exquisite green 
water recedes, only to rush back again with renewed 
force, reawakening that thrillingly solemn chorus, 
which, in ages long gone, earned for this cave its old 
Gaelic name of Uaimh Bhinn, 'the melodious cavern.'' 
Altogether it is a scene of which no words can convey 
the smallest idea, and as we pass suddenly from the 

315 



CHOSEN DAYS IN SCOTLAND 

glaring sunlight into that cool deep shade, and look 
down into the wondrous depths of that world of clear 
crystalline green, we cannot choose but believe that we 
have invaded the chosen home of some pure spirit of 
the sea — some dainty Undine, whose low musical notes 
we can almost think we discern, mingling with the 
voice of the waves. ' ' 

A sail of about half an hour brings the boat 
to the sacred island of Iona, which was for so 
many centuries a venerated shrine that it al- 
ways will have an atmosphere of holiness, natur- 
ally fostered by the relics of its days of power 
and influence. In 563 a.d., Columba, Irish 
priest and statesman of noble blood, came from 
his native land in a "coracle." Twelve follow- 
ers came with him. They built wattled huts 
of reeds covered with mud, the humble begin- 
nings of the monasteries which were planted 
all over Scotland. From here Columba sent 
out missionaries and he himself made journeys 
to different parts of Scotland where he not 
only taught the people Christianity but exer- 
cised considerable political influence. Though 
Columba doubtless brought Christianity to 
the greater part of North Britain, St. Mungo 
or Kentigern was working at the same time 
among the Britons about the Clyde. This 

316 



GLENCOE AND THE LAND OF LORNE 

Celtic establishment of Columba's was com- 
posed of monks, who lived in a little com- 
munity grouped around the church. They 
lived hard, plain lives providing for all their 
own needs, working among the poor, preach- 
ing, copying books. 

The Norsemen ravaged Iona again and 
again, and in time these onslaughts led to the 
disorganization of the monasteries, and the 
monks were dispersed. They were followed by 
the Culdees, religious men who lived as her- 
mits. Scattered all over Scotland are the re- 
mains of the early monasteries, and of the 
later Culdee cells. The Culdees themselves, 
after a time, gathered and lived in communi- 
ties under an abbot. 

Iona's name was formerly Icolmkill, "Isle 
of the Cell of Columba. " The Gaelic name, 
I hona, means "Sacred Isle" and also "Isle of 
the Druids. " St. Oran's Chapel is probably the 
oldest building on the island, and is thought 
to have been built by St. Margaret, queen of 
Malcolm Canmore. She it was who built the 
tiny chapel in Edinburgh Castle. The nun- 
nery is probably of later date. Columba did 
not approve of women, and would not allow 
any women on his island. When religious as- 

317 



CHOSEN DAYS IN SCOTLAND 

pirations drew nuns in that direction in the 
saint's time, they had to have their establish- 
ment on a neighbouring island. The burial- 
ground of Iona is called Reilig Oran, and it 
was evidently considered as holy by the ad- 
herents of the Celtic Church as is the ground 
of sacred Benares to the Hindoos. Here are 
buried the bodies of sixty kings of Scotland, 
Ireland, and Norway. One French king is 
said to have been brought here for interment. 
There is also a row of graves of the great chiefs, 
Macleods of Macleod, Macdonalds, Macleans, 
and other clansmen. Of the three hundred 
crosses which formerly stood on the island only 
two remain, the others having been thrown 
into the sea at the time of the Reformation, 
when all the religious buildings on the island 
also suffered. The two existing crosses prob- 
ably date as far back as the twelfth century. 
They are tall, St. Martin's cross being four- 
teen feet high. Both are elaborately sculp- 
tured. The cathedral has been restored by 
the Established Church of Scotland to which 
it was bequeathed by a late Duke of Argyle. 
The only relic of Columba is a stone which is 
preserved in the cathedral and is said to have 
been his pillow. The tomb from which the 

318 



GLENCOE AND THE LAND OF LORNE 

saint's bones were taken to Dunkeld by Ken- 
neth M'Alpin, is also pointed out. Little is 
left of the monastic buildings, which formerly 
included a fine library. 

It was a strange place for Columba to choose 
wherein to establish his church, but the power 
of his foundation is shown by the facts that 
Iona, a little out-of-the-way island, was to the 
Celtic Church what Rome was to the Catholic. 

The steamer's run back to Oban completes 
the circuit of the island of Mull, coasting as it 
does along the south of the Ross of Mull. Not 
far from Iona is the island of Earraid of which 
Robert Louis Stevenson has written a notable 
description. 



319 



CHAPTER XIX 

SCENES IN "THE LADY OF THE LAKE" 

IN taking the tour through the Trossachs, 
the most charming and typical in Scotland, 
the best starting-point is Glasgow. There 
is a train ride of about half an hour, the greater 
part of the way along the north bank of the 
Clyde, where is visible a good deal of the ship- 
building industry for which Glasgow is fa- 
mous. The historic rock of Dumbarton is 
passed, in ancient days the seat of government 
of the Strathclyde Brythons, at a later date 
the prison of Wallace and the fortress which 
sheltered little Queen Mary on the eve of her 
sailing for France. At Balloch Pier on Loch 
Lomond a steamer awaits. As the boat steams 
up the Loch, which is very wide in the south- 
ern part, at the left is Glenfruin, which was 
the scene of a terrible clan-battle between the 
Macgregors, who were wild and uncontrolled, 
and their enemies, the Colquhouns. The Col- 
quhouns precipitated the fight and hoped, with 

320 



SCENES IN "THE LADY OF THE LAKE" 

their superior numbers, to surround and ex- 
terminate their foes. The Macgregors, how- 
ever, notwithstanding the disparity of their 
forces, gained a complete victory, taking 
prisoners as well as killing many of the Col- 
quhouns. Two hundred of the latter were 
left dead on the field. Scott writes: "The 
consequences of the battle of Glen-fruin were 
very calamitous to the family of Macgregor, 
who had already been considered an unruly 
clan. The widows of the slain Colquhouns, 
sixty, it is said, in number, appeared in dole- 
ful procession before the king in Stirling, 
each riding upon a white palfrey, and bearing 
in her hand the bloody shirt of her husband 
displayed upon a pike. James VI was so 
much moved by the complaints of this * choir 
of mourning dames,' that he let loose his 
vengeance against the Macgregors, without 
either bounds or moderation. The very name 
of the clan was proscribed, and those by whom 
it had been borne were given up to sword and 
fire, and absolutely hunted down by blood- 
hounds like wild beasts. " The atmosphere of 
peace which now fills these silent glens gives, 
happily, no suggestion that they were once 
the scene of dreadful strife. Life seems to 

321 



CHOSEN DAYS IN SCOTLAND 

have had but little value in those former days, 
and an enemy was a person to be exterminated. 
Nevertheless, the Highland idea of hospitality 
was so exalted that a stranger was never asked 
his name or lineage before refreshment had 
been offered and accepted. 

Opposite Glenf ruin, at the end of a large 
wooded island, are the ruins of an old castle. 
There are several of these islands, thirty-two 
it is said, adding their beauty to the loch which 
is thought by some to surpass either the Swiss 
or the Italian lakes. Though Loch Lomond 
has a charm and loveliness all its own, the com- 
parison seems far-fetched. Moreover, in ad- 
justing the mind to such comparisons, a person 
in the midst of beautiful scenery loses, perhaps, 
its most intimate appeal. 

One of the pleasures of sailing on the long 
Scottish lochs is the frequent crossing and re- 
crossing of the water to stop at the stations or 
piers on each side. On calling at Balmaha 
the steamer rounds Inchcailloch, "the Island 
of Women." The island is an old burying- 
ground of the Macgregors, and there are ruins 
of the nunnery which once stood there. 

Loch Lomond lies between two ranges of 
mountains of which the highest, old Ben 



SCENES IN "THE LADY OF THE LAKE" 

Lomond, soon comes into view on the east, 
and thereafter dominates the whole scene even 
when, as frequently happens, his head is 
wrapped in clouds. At the upper or northern 
end of the loch, at Ardlui, the journey may 
be continued by either coach or train through 
lovely Glen Falloch to Crianlarich. But to 
continue the journey to the Trossachs a change 
is made at Inversnaid where coaches are wait- 
ing to cover the five miles to Loch Katrine. 
If the traveller is not hurried, he will be well 
repaid for lingering here long enough to take 
some of the delightful walks in the neighbour- 
hood. A mile beyond Inversnaid, up the lake 
shore, is Rob Roy's Cave, where he is said to 
have kept his prisoners and which, tradition 
has it, Robert Bruce as well as Rob Roy, used 
as a place of concealment. The outflow of the 
Arklet is at Inversnaid near the hotel. The 
water leaps down in a lovely waterfall. 

It was here that Wordsworth met the lovely 
girl who inspired his poem "To a Highland 
Girl" of which this is the last stanza: 

1 ' Now thanks to Heaven ! that of its grace 
Hath led me to this lonely place. 
Joy have I had ; and going hence 
I bear away my recompense. 
323 



CHOSEN DAYS IN SCOTLAND 

In spots like these it is we prize 
Our memory, feel that she hath eyes: 
Then, why should I be loath to stir? 
I feel this place was made for her: 
To give new pleasure like the past, 
Continued long as life shall last. 
Nor am I loath, though pleased at heart, 
Sweet Highland girl ! from thee to part, 
For I, methinks, till I grow old, 
As fair before me shall behold, 
As I do now, the cabin small, 
The lake, the bay, the waterfall; 
And thee, the spirit of them all ! " 

In leaving Inversnaid there is a steep ascent 
through the glen of the Arklet, then the road 
runs out on the high open moor where little 
grows but heather, though beside tiny streams 
the delicate forget-me-not sometimes blossoms 
bravely. Here the shaggy, long-haired High- 
land cattle graze, just pausing to look out be- 
tween their broad, long horns as the coach 
rolls by. In the middle of the moorlands is 
little Loch Arklet with low, barren shores, a 
Highland tarn, on the farther banks of which 
is the shieling, which was the home of Helen 
Macgregor, the wife of Rob Roy. The road 
drops abruptly down to Stronachlachar on the 
shore of Loch Katrine, so called, Scott believed, 

324 



SCENES IN "THE LADY OF THE LAKE" 

from the "Caterans" or robbers who infested 
its shores. " The Lady of the Lake" should 
be read amid these scenes which it describes 
so vividly. Like great Loch Lomond this 
loch lies between two ranges of mountains, 
and is wild at its northern end from which 
opens Glengyle, where Rob Roy was born. 
From Stronachlachar is an extensive view 
throughout the southern portion of the loch, 
the lower slopes of whose mountains are cov- 
ered with trees. The steamer, winding down 
between the wooded banks with the rugged 
heights of Ben Venue towering in the south 
and the gentler summit of Ben A' an in the 
north, all too soon comes to Ellen's leafy Isle 
which, in spite of the encroachments of the 
Water Department of the City of Glasgow, 
must look very much as it did on the day that 
James Fitz- James hunted the stag till his faith- 
ful grey fell under him with fatigue. As 
Fitz-James, coming toward the loch from the 
east through the Pass of the Trossachs, was 
lured on by the rare and unusual beauty of 
his surroundings, 

"The western waves of ebbing day 
Rolled o'er the glen their level way; 

325 



CHOSEN DAYS IN SCOTLAND 

Each purple peak, each flinty spire, 

Was bathed in floods of living fire. 

But not a setting beam could glow 

Within the dark ravines below, 

Where twined the path in shadow hid, 

Round many a rocky pyramid, 

Shooting abruptly from the dell 

Its thunder-splintered pinnacle; 

Round many an insulated mass, 

The native bulwarks of the pass, 

Huge as the tower which builders vain 

Presumptuous piled on Shinar's plain. 

Their rocky summits split and rent, 

Formed turret, dome, or battlement, 

Or seemed fantastically set 

With cupola or minaret, 

Wild crests as pagod ever decked, 

Or mosque of eastern architect. 

Nor were these earth-born castles bare, 

Nor lacked they many a banner fair; 

For with their shivered brows displayed, 

Far o'er the unfathomable glade, 

All twinkling with the dew-drop sheen, 

The brier-rose fell in streamers green, 

And creeping shrub with thousand dyes, 

Waved in the west-wind's summer sighs." 

Fitz-James reached the end of the pass which 
in Scott's time evidently had not the easy exit 
and entrance enjoyed by the traveller of the 
present day. 

326 




M 



S 
o 
o 

03 



5 



SCENES IN "THE LADY OF THE LAKE" 

"And now, to issue from the glen, 
No pathway meets the wanderer's ken, 
Unless he climb, with footing nice, 
A far projecting precipice. 
The broom's tough roots his ladder made, 
The hazel saplings lent their aid; 
And thus an airy point he won, 
Where, gleaming with the setting sun, 
One burnished sheet of living gold, 
Loch Katrine lay beneath him rolled; 
In all her length far winding lay, 
With promontory, creek, and bay, 
And islands that, empurpled bright, 
Floated amid the livelier light; 
And mountains, that like giants stand, 
To sentinel enchanted land. 
High on the south, huge Ben- venue 
Down to the lake in masses threw 
Crags, knolls, and mounds, confusedly hurled, 
The fragments of an earlier world; 
A wildering forest feathered o'er 
His ruined sides and summit hoar, 
While on the north, through middle air, 
Ben-an heaved high his forehead bare. 

As he advanced, 

"Onward, amid the copse 'gan peep 
A narrow inlet, still and deep, 
Affording scarce such breadth of brim, 
As served the wild-duck's brood to swim; 
327 



CHOSEN DAYS IN SCOTLAND 

Lost for a space, through thickets veering 
But broader when again appearing, 
Tall rocks and tufted knolls their face 
Could on the dark-blue mirror trace; 
And farther as the hunter strayed, 
Still broader sweep its channels made. 
The shaggy mounds no longer stood, 
Emerging from entangled wood, 
But wave-encircled, seemed to float, 
Like castle girdled with its moat; 
Yet broader floods extending still, 
Divide them from their parent hill, 
Till each, retiring, claims to be 
An islet in an inland sea. 

He gained a headland on Loch Katrine: 

"From the steep promontory gazed 
The stranger, raptured and amazed, 
And ' What a scene were here, ' he cried, 
'For princely pomp or churchman's pride.' 
On this bold brow, a lordly tower; 
In that soft vale, a lady's bower; 
On yonder meadow, far away, 
The turrets of a cloister grey. 

As night was approaching he sounded his 
horn, hoping to draw some member of his com- 
pany whom he had left far behind. 

' ' But scarce again his horn he wound, 
When lo ! forth starting at the soimd, 
828 



SCENES IN "THE LADY OF THE LAKE" 

From underneath an aged oak, 

That slanted from the islet rock, 

A Damsel guider of its way, 

A little skiff shot to the bay, 

That round the promontory steep 

Led its deep line in graceful sweep, 

Eddying, in almost viewless wave, 

The weeping willow twig to lave, 

And kiss, with whispering sound and slow, 

The beach of pebbles bright as snow. 

The boat had touched the silver strand, 

Just as the Hunter left his stand, 

And stood concealed amid the brake, 

To view this Lady of the Lake. 

The maiden, startled at the sight of a 
stranger, heard his tale of a "benighted road," 
then explained that his coming had been fore- 
told by their harper, and that all was in readi- 
ness to receive him. She guided him to the 
shallop, which Fitz-James rowed to the island. 

"The stranger viewed the shore around; 
'Twas all so close with copse-wood bound, 
Nor track nor pathway might declare 
That human foot frequented there, 
Until the mountain-maiden showed 
A clambering unsuspected road, 
That winded through the tangled screen, 
And opened on a narrow green, 
329 



CHOSEN DAYS IN SCOTLAND 

Where weeping birch and willow round 
With their long fibres swept the ground; 
Here, for retreat in dangerous hour, 
Some chief had framed a rustic bower. ' ' 

They entered the hall which was filled with 
trophies of the chase: 

"The mistress of the mansion came, 
Mature of age, a graceful dame; 
Whose easy step and stately port 
Had well become a princely court, 
To whom, though more than kindred knew, 
Young Ellen gave a mother's due. 
Meet welcome to her guest she made, 
And every courteous rite was paid, 
That hospitality could claim, 
Though all unasked his birth and name; 
Such then the reverence to a guest, 
That fellest foe might join the feast, 
And from his deadliest foeman's door 
Unquestioned turn, the banquet o'er. 
At length his rank the stranger names — 
'The Knight of Snowdoun, James Fitz- James. ' " 

This was, as every lover of Scott knows, the 
retreat of Roderick Dhu, who was giving 
shelter to the banished Douglas and his lovely 
daughter, together with Allan Bane, the pic- 
turesque old family harper of the Douglas. 
The next morning the stranger departed. As 

330 



SCENES IN "THE LADY OF THE LAKE" 

Ellen, guarded by the harper, sat on the 
island, they viewed a stirring scene. 

"Far up the lengthened lake were spied 
Four darkening specks upon the tide, 
That, slow enlarging on the view, 
Four manned and masted barges grew, 
And bearing downward from Glengyle, 
Steered full upon the lonely isle; 
The point of Brianchoil they passed, 
And, to the windward as they cast, 
Against the sun they gave to shine 
The bold Sir Roderick's bannered pine 
Nearer and nearer as they bear, 
Spears, pikes, and axes flash in air. 
Now might you see the tartans brave, 
And plaids and plumage dance and wave; 
Now see the bonnets sink and rise, 
As his tough oar the rower plies; 
See, flashing at each sturdy stroke, 
The wave ascending into smoke; 
See the proud pipers on the bow, , 
And mark the gaudy streamers flow 
From their loud chanters down, and sweep 
The furrowed bosom of the deep, 
As, rushing through the lake amain, 
They plied the ancient Highland strain. " 

The song which they sang with the swing 
of their oars is too well known to quote — and 
yet one verse to give the lilt of it: 

331 






CHOSEN DAYS IN SCOTLAND 

"Hail to the chief who in triumph advances! 

Honored and blessed be the evergreen pine ! 
Long may the tree in his banner that glances, 

Flourish, the shelter and grace of our line J 

Heaven send it happy dew, 

Earth lend it sap anew; 
Gaily to burgeon, and broadly to grow, 

While every Highland glen 

Sends our shout back agen, 
'Roderigh Vich Alpine dhu, ho! ieroe!' " 

A splendid pageant it must have been, those 
vigorous clansmen in all the bravery of their 
Highland trappings, which seem peculiarly 
fitted to the country, the very tartans having 
the colours of the heather and bracken and 
other growths of the mountainsides. 

The following day Roderick Dhu sent the 
Fiery Cross to summon the members of Clan 
Alpine to assemble on Lanrick Mead. 

' ' Benledi saw the Cross of Fire, 
It glanced like lightning up Strath-Ire. 
O'er dale and hill the summons flew, 
Nor rest nor pause young Angus knew. 

Now eve, with western shadows long, 
Floated on Katrine bright and strong, 
When Roderick, with a chosen few, 
Repassed the heights of Ben-venue. 
332 






SCENES IN "THE LADY OF THE LAKE" 

Above the Goblin-cave they go, 
Through the wild pass of Beal-nam-bo; 
The prompt retainers speed before, 
To launch the shallop from the shore, 
For 'cross Loch-Katrine lies his way 
To view the passes of Achray, 
And place his clansmen in array. ' ' 

Roderick Dhu conducted Fitz-James as far 
as Coilantogle Ford. 

1 ' A stranger is a holy name ; 
Guidance and rest, and food and fire, 
In vain he never must require. 
Then rest thee here till dawn of day; 
Myself will guide thee on the way, 
O'er stock and stone, through watch and ward, 
Till past Clan-Alpine's outmost guard, 
As far as Coilantogle 's ford; 
From thence thy warrant is thy sword. 

At length they came where, stern and steep, 
The hill sinks down upon the deep. 
Here Vennachar in silver flows, 
There, ridge on ridge, Benledi rose. 
Ever the hollow path twined on, 
Beneath steep bank and threatening stone; 
A hundred men might hold the post 
With hardihood against a host. 
The rugged mountain's scanty cloak 
Was dwarfish shrubs of birch and oak, 
333 



CHOSEN DAYS IN SCOTLAND 

With shingles bare, and cliffs between, 
And patches bright of bracken green, 
And heather black, that waved so high, 
It held the copse in rivalry. 
But where the lake slept deep and still, 
Dank osiers fringed the swamp and hill; 
And oft both path and hill were torn, 
Where wintry torrent down had borne, 
And heaped upon the cumbered land 
Its wreck of gravel, rocks, and sand. ' ' 

The present-day traveller coming from 
Stronachlachar lands at the Trossachs Pier. 
The walk through the mile-long Pass of the 
Trossachs is an experience apart, but most 
journeyers hasten to the top of one of the wait- 
ing coaches, where, if they are fortunate 
enough to secure a box-seat, they have views 
of "the Trossachs' shaggy glen" that will be a 
joy to them ever after. The Pass opens into 
the valley where lies lovely Loch Achray. To 
be sure the coaches stop for a while at the great 
Trossachs Hotel, but there still hangs over the 
loch the atmosphere of peace felt by Scott. 
In the chase that begins "The Lady of the 
Lake," the hunted stag sought the nearest 
cover. 

"But nearer was the copse-wood gray, 
That waved and wept on Loch- Achray, 
334 



SCENES IN "THE LADY OF THE LAKE" 

And mingled with the pine-trees blue 
On the bold cliffs of Ben-venue. ' ' 

Later in the poem, in response to the Fiery 
Torch, 

1 ' Each son of Alpine rushed to arms ; 
So swept the tumult and affray 
Along the margin of Achray. 
Alas, thou lovely lake! that e'er 
Thy banks should echo sounds of fear! 
The rocks, the bosky thickets, sleep 
So stilly on thy bosom deep, 
The lark's blithe carol from the cloud, 
Seems for the scene too gaily loud. ' ' 

The coach follows a charming, shady road along 
the shore of Loch Achray, and crosses the Brig 
o' Turk where, in the hunt 

' ' Few were the stragglers, following far, 
That reached the lake of Vennachar; 
And when the Brigg of Turk was won, 
The headmost horseman rode alone. ' ' 

Beyond the Brig on the shore of Loch Ven- 
nachar is Lanrick Mead, the mustering-place 
of the clan. The road skirts the loch, and 
passes Coilantogle Ford, the place to which, 
in fulfilment of his promise, Roderick Dhu 
guided Fitz-James and then challenged him 

335 



CHOSEN DAYS IN SCOTLAND 

to mortal combat. At the north are the slopes 
of Ben Ledi, "Mountain of God," on whose 
green summit "the ancient Druid fires were 
kept." The drive ends at Callander, which 
stands in the valley of the Teith, in the heart 
of a delightsome country. 

From Callander one can go by train to 
Stirling and on to Edinburgh all in the same 
day, if time presses, but it makes a long day. 
A picturesque and interesting line of railway 
runs from Callander through the Pass of Leny, 
between Ben Ledi and Loch Lubnaig and on 
to Loch Awe and the Pass of Brander to Oban. 
From the Trossachs a road winds around the 
head of Loch Achray and, running south, 
climbs a heather-covered moorland, whence 
there are glorious views of Loch Vennachar 
and Loch Achray and, keeping guard over 
them, Ben Ledi and Ben Venue. After the 
summit of the climb is passed, there is a steep 
descent, with superb views, to Aberfoyle, a 
place full of interest in connection with Scott's 
writings, and one of the haunts of Rob Roy. 
In the novel, ' ' Rob Roy, " is a charming picture 
of Aberfoyle: "To the left lies the valley of 
the Forth, with the river flowing on its easterly 
course, surrounding the beautiful detached 

336 



SCENES IN ''THE LADY OF THE LAKE" 

hill, with all its garland of woods. On the 
right, amid a profusion of thickets, knolls, and 
crags, is the bed of a broad mountain lake, 
lightly curled into tiny waves by the breath 
of the morning breeze, each glittering in its 
course under the influence of the sunbeams. 
High hills, rocks, and banks, waving with 
natural forests of birch and oak, form the bor- 
ders of this enchanting sheet of water, and 
their leaves rustling to the wind and twinkling 
in the sun, give to the depth of solitude a sort 
of life and vivacity." The beginning of the 
Forth near Aberfoyle, is called the Laggan, 
and the lake referred to is Loch Ard. 



337 



CHAPTER XX 

GLASGOW, THE CITY OF ST. KENTIGERN 

GLASGOW hardly does itself justice by 
the first impression it makes on the visi- 
tor) who sees, as he leaves the station 
and traverses some of the principal streets, a 
city of buildings, solid and well-made, but 
much blackened by the smoke which pours 
from the chimneys of its numerous factories. 
It is true that Glasgow is called the commercial 
capital of Scotland, but it can justly claim 
other interests which would have more attrac- 
tion to the average traveller. It is older than 
Edinburgh, tracing its beginning back to St. 
Ninian (fifth century), who built a place of 
worship on the site where the cathedral now 
stands. Later in the century St. Kentigern, 
or St. Mungo as he is more familiarly known, 
built his cell in the place which had been 
blessed by the presence of St. Ninian, and 
founded the see of Glasgow. In the eleventh 
century David I, the king who established so 

338 



GLASGOW, THE CITY OF ST. KENTIGERN 

many beautiful abbeys and other ecclesiastical 
institutions, founded the cathedral of Glasgow, 
and it was around the cathedral that the town 
began to grow. Glasgow has its distinct place 
in Scottish history, and it was visited from 
time to time by its sovereigns. Queen Mary 
was here on several occasions, one of them 
being when she came to nurse Darnley, while 
he lay ill with smallpox. When he was able 
to be moved she had him carried to Edinburgh, 
where shortly after he was killed in Kirk o' 
Field. It has never been proved that the 
Queen had any foreknowledge of this affair. 
Mary's last visit was after her escape from 
Loch Leven Castle, when her half-brother, the 
Earl of Moray, met and defeated the Queen's 
forces at Langside. The unfortunate young 
Queen made the fatal mistake of fleeing to 
England. Langside is now a suburb of Glas- 
gow. 

Two hundred years ago, Glasgow was de- 
scribed as a charming place surrounded by 
gardens and orchards, and even its name, which 
is Gaelic, is said to mean "the dear, green 
place." Many writers expatiated on its at- 
tractions, its broad handsome streets, its rural 
charms, and the sweetness of its air! To-day 

339 



CHOSEN DAYS IN SCOTLAND 

the city has some fine parks, to be sure, but 
they are none of them in the main part of the 
city, which is singularly destitute of any green 
places to rest the eye, wearied by streets of 
substantial buildings. The heart of the city 
is George Square, in the centre of which is 
the first monument in Scotland erected to Sir 
Walter Scott. The figure of the poet is sup- 
ported on a Corinthian column. There are 
several statues in the square, which has on one 
side imposing municipal buildings, the seat 
of a civic government which is considered a 
model to the world. In the vicinity of the 
square are some of the handsomest streets, 
where are splendid shops and indications of a 
substantial wealth. Not far from these very 
streets, however, are narrow, crowded thor- 
oughfares, where there is poverty that gives 
one a heartache all the time he is in the great 
city. While the city government has given 
the people of Glasgow splendid advantages, 
such as the purest water-supply in the world, 
an unsurpassed tramway service at a minimum 
fare, fine museums, parks for recreation, and 
many other privileges, it has never bridged 
over the great chasm between the abject 
poverty of very many of its citizens, and the 

340 



GLASGOW, THE CITY OF ST. KENTIGERN 

great wealth of which evidences are to be seen 
on every hand. 

Old Glasgow is, naturally, around the cathe- 
dral, though many changes have been made in 
that section. This church is one of the two 
cathedrals of Scotland to escape the fury of the 
Reformation, the other being the Cathedral of 
St. Magnus in the Orkney Islands. When 
Glasgow Cathedral was threatened, the burgh- 
ers, it seems, rose in arms and saved it, though 
some of the statues suffered. It is a fine 
Gothic building, and, like the city, is plain and 
substantial. The interior, though rather cold, 
is imposing with graceful, lofty arches. St. 
Kentigern, to whom the building is dedicated, 
is said to be buried at the east end of the 
cathedral-site. The crypt is noteworthy with 
a curious arrangement of its massive pillars, 
behind one of which Rob Roy concealed him- 
self, as is related in Scott's novel. In this 
lower church is also shown St. Mungo's well. 
Near the cathedral and reached by what is 
called "The Bridge of Sighs" is the Necropolis, 
the city's old burying-ground. It is a hill 
completely covered with monuments. In the 
long ago this used to be a green hill, and must 
have added much to the attractiveness of the 

341 






CHOSEN DAYS IN SCOTLAND 

cathedral. It is to be regretted that the old 
Glaswegians did not select some other place 
for their dead. 

The University, founded in 1450, the second 
in Scotland, was near by in High Street, but 
in recent years the old buildings were taken 
down to make room for a railway station. 
The University is now housed on Gilmore 
Hill, in one of the finest modern buildings of 
Scotland. Glasgow has many hills and this 
particular one is in the border of Kelvingrove 
Park, where are also a museum and the splen- 
did Corporation Galleries of Art, thought to 
contain the finest collection of pictures and 
statuary outside of London. In the vicinity 
of the park are the best residential portions of 
the city. 

From Glasgow Bridge there is a fine view of 
the Broomielaw, the harbour which Glasgow 
has made for itself. Formerly the port was sev- 
eral miles down the river, but with tremendous 
enterprise and at an enormous expense the 
broom-bordered sand-flats of the Clyde have 
been metamorphosed into a commodious har- 
bour into which transatlantic steamers can sail. 
It presents a perfect forest of shipping, while 
farther down the Clyde are the great ship- 

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GLASGOW, THE CITY OF ST. KENTTGERN 

building yards, in which have been built 
some of the largest and finest steamships afloat, 
among them the "Carmania" and "Lusi- 
tania." Its textile and chemical industries 
form other sources of Glasgow's wealth, as do 
its blast furnaces. 

Glasgow, being in the centre of the Coven- 
anting region, used up an almost unlimited 
amount of energy during that struggle, a part 
of which, perhaps, is now being converted to 
use in carrying on these huge enterprises. A 
most interesting picture of the Sabbath keep- 
ing in the eighteenth century is given by 
Henry Grey Graham in "Social Life in the 
Eighteenth Century." 

"To secure proper observance of the Sabbath, com- 
purgators, or ' bumbalies, ' patrolled the streets and 
wynds on Saturday night to see that by ten o'clock all 
folk were quietly at home ; and if incautious sounds 
betokening untimely revelry issued from behind a 
door, or a stream of light from behind the chinks of a 
window-shutter betrayed a jovial company within, they 
entered and broke up the party which dared to be 
happy so near the Lord's own day. . . . The pro- 
found stillness of the Sabbath was preternatural, 
except when the multitudinous tramp of heavy shoes 
came from a vast voiceless throng of churchgoers. In 

343 



CHOSEN DAYS IN SCOTLAND 

the mirk Sabbath nights no lamp was lit, because all 
but profane persons were engaged in solemn exercises 
at home. ' ' 

Notwithstanding all the changes that have 
taken place since that austere period, even so 
recently as twenty years ago the streets of 
Glasgow, on Sunday morning thronged im- 
mediately before and after service, were silent 
and deserted during that time. Moreover, 
when the exercises began the church-doors 
were locked, an incentive to promptness and a 
quencher to any desire to leave before the ser- 
vice was finished. It was a great innovation, 
censured by many, when people began to take 
walks, though they were no more joyous than 
to the cemeteries. By two decades ago the sons 
of the family would take promenades along 
the famous thoroughfare, the Great West- 
ern Road, but in many families the daughters 
were kept at home and occupied with religious 
reading. I was spending the winter in Glas- 
gow at the time I mention when I received a 
letter from a Japanese friend who wrote that 
he would be in Glasgow on Sunday, and ask- 
ing if he might call on that day, adding that 
he had heard that "a sparrow in Scotland was 

344 



GLASGOW, THE CITY OF ST. KENTIGERN 

once seen chirping on the Sabbath day and a 
policeman chased it away. " Since that time 
great changes have taken place, and it may be 
that in the next twenty years the reaction will 
be so great that the pendulum will swing too 
far in the other direction. 



345 



CHAPTER XXI 

"WE'LL A' BE PROUD O' ROBIN" 

WHILE "all roads lead to Rome," the 
roads of Great Britain are not of such 
common consent, for some of them 
centre at Stratford and others wind across the 
farms and pastures of Ayrshire to the Alloway 
"clay biggin" where Robert Burns was born. 
The English dramatist draws his following 
from the whole world that reads from books, 
or that looks upon the stage. The Scottish 
poet's vernacular is a hindrance to his easy 
understanding, even in his own islands — a 
much greater hindrance to foreigners — yet so 
vital is the personality of the man, so simple 
his recital, so naive his confessions, and so 
human-wide the experiences he narrates that 
in some years the pilgrims to the Alloway cot- 
tage outnumber those that register at Strat- 
ford and keep hard-beaten the path to Shot- 
tery. It is just these same characteristics that 
made Dickens beloved beyond his own genera- 

346 



"WE'LL A' BE PROUD CT ROBIN" 

tion — an abounding vitality showing through 
the simple narration of experiences common to 
every member of the human race. The group- 
ing of these characteristics always will make 
appealing any writer to whom Nature has 
given the power to express them. 

In discussions about the possibility of the 
production of a "great American novel" the 
argument frequently is made that a national 
novel is impossible in a country made up of so 
many differing elements as is the United 
States; that only local novels are possible. 
The unbeliever answers that there is, undeni- 
ably, such a thing as Americanism, that this 
quality may be as apparent in a tale of Oregon 
as in one of Boston or of New Orleans, and 
that in so far as it animates the spirit of the 
story, that story is national and not local. It 
would be hard to find a more illuminating in- 
stance in the similar but wider field of human 
life, than is given by Burns 's work. He sings 
of the daily lives, the loves, and sorrows of the 
humble folk of a few insignificant Scottish 
hamlets, yet his lyrics are so instinct with sym- 
pathy, with passion, with remorse, with ardour, 
with pity, with humour that they belong not 
to Mossgiel or to Ayrshire, not to Scotland or 

347 



CHOSEN DAYS IN SCOTLAND 

even to Great Britain, but to the human race. 
There is little or no aspiration, and that lack 
means the missing of the poet's greatest op- 
portunity, but at the same time that very lack 
endears him to those people — and they out- 
number the others — who prefer sitting before 
the fire in easy slippers to lifting themselves 
by their boot-straps. He has but little of the 
bow-wow of historical patriotism, but he has a 
comfortable sense that no other country is any 
better than his own, that meets response in 
everybody, no matter where he lives. He 
celebrates drinking more than even the easy 
of to-day approve, and he laments women's 
frailties, which comes ill from a man who did 
his frequent best to make them frail; but his 
weaknesses brought upon him such well-earned 
retribution that even the sternest moralist 
must pity his suffering. 

He came at a time that was ripe to receive 
just his expression. Men — even Scotsmen — 
were weary of formalism in verse, of pedantry 
in thought, of strictness in religion. Free- 
dom was stirring — the freedom that demanded 
governmental justice in America and personal 
justice in France. 

Burns, born just a year after Ramsay's 

348 




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"WE'LL A' BE PROUD O' ROBIN" 

death, inherited the tradition of the vernacular 
that had meant a literary revolution when the 
older man first began to write Scots; the tra- 
dition which Wordsworth, eleven years young- 
er than Burns, translated into simple English 
diction. There were plenty of young men, 
and older ones, too, who woke up to a realisa- 
tion that Nature did not exist merely to be 
suppressed, and they welcomed with an enthu- 
siasm that made Burns the most popular man 
of his generation the voice that spoke of famil- 
iar emotions in common speech and was not 
afraid to intimate that there were other sub- 
jects as well worth talking about as metaphy- 
sics and theology. It took a long time for the 
whole people to grasp all that Burns meant, 
even after they had taken him himself to their 
hearts. The after-dinner talk which bored Sir 
Walter might have appeared without change 
in a serious review, says a critic of the times, 
and it was almost a century after Elizabeth 
Hamilton's "Cottagers of Glenburnie" before 
a real love of "things as they are" bore fruit- 
age in the "Kailyard School. " But the Scot- 
tish temperament is slow, and perhaps a cen- 
tury, after all, is not too long a period of 
growth for so radical a change. 

349 



CHOSEN DAYS IN SCOTLAND 

William Burness, the poet's father, erected 
with his own hands the Alloway cottage with 
its flagged floor, its recessed window, and its 
bed built into the wall — a horror to modern 
ideas of sanitation, as it is declared by every- 
one who visits the thatched museum to-day. 
There Robert Burns was born in 1759 on a 
stormy January night. When William was 
hastening to bring an attendant to his wife 
he encountered on the farther banks of the 
river an old woman who begged him to take 
her across the stream. Though the anxious 
prospective father could ill endure the delay, 
he mounted her behind him, and sent his horse 
through the ford once again. When he reached 
home after doing his errand in Ayr, he found 
this same old crone sitting before his own fire- 
side, and in her gratitude to him for playing 
St. Christopher she uttered over the newborn 
babe a prophecy deftly worded to cover the 
fate of any child, and to flatter the hopes of 
any parent, proud of his first-born. As the 
poet himself tells the tale: 

"Our monarch's hindmost year but ane 
Was five and twenty days begun, 
'Twas then a blast o' Januar win' 
Blew hansel in on Robin. 
350 



''WE'LL A' BE PROUD CT ROBIN" 

' ' The gossip keekit l in his loof , 2 
Quo' she, wha lives will see the proof, 
This waly 3 boy will be nae coof 4 — 
I think we'll ca* him Robin. 

"He'll hae misfortunes great and sma', 
But aye a heart aboon them a' ; 
He'll be a credit till us a', 
We'll a' be proud o' Robin." 

A century and a half has passed since that 
tempestuous winter night, and when on its an- 
niversary the members of the Burns Societies 
the world over, with national steadfastness to 
tradition, drink a silent toast to the memory 
of the ploughman-poet, they may indeed kin- 
dle at the thought of the man who expressed 
the Scottish character of his own day and of 
ours, and of long days to come, "the Scotch- 
man," as Rossetti says, "who, more than any 
other man or men, knits together at the pres- 
ent moment Scotchmen all over the globe, and 
may prolong and intensify for ages the nation- 
alising work in which the battle of Bannock- 
burn and the anti-prelatical reformation under 
Knox were earlier, yet it may be hardly so 
powerful coefficients." 



Looked. 2 Palm. 3 Goodly. «Fool. 

351 



CHOSEN DAYS IN SCOTLAND 

Even modern methods of agriculture have 
not turned Ayrshire into other than a pleasant 
farming country, and Burns seems to have 
looked upon its stony fields with the uncom- 
promising eye of the farmer who had to con- 
tend with their difficulties rather than with 
the transforming gaze of the poet. He was 
observant of the whirl of the storm, of the 
wimpling of the burn, of the whistling flight 
of birds, of the crimson tip of the daisy, of the 
ways of the common beasts — the kine, and the 
yowes, and the horses, and the dogs. He 
could sing knowingly of "The Bonny Banks 
of Ayr": 

"The gloomy night is gathering fast, 
Loud roars the wild inconstant blast; 
Yon murky cloud is foul with rain, 
I see it driving o'er the plain; 
The hunter now has left the moor, 
The scatter 'd coveys meet secure; 
While here I wander, prest with care 
Along the lonely banks of Ayr. ' ' 

He loved the river of his native place: 

"Ye banks and braes o' bonnie Doon, 

How can ye bloom sae fresh and fair; 
How can ye chant, ye little birds, 
An' I sae weary, fu' o' care; 
352 



"WE'LL A' BE PROUD O' ROBIN" 

Thou 'It break my heart thou warbling bird, 
That wantons thro' the flowering thorn — 

Thou minds me o' departed joys, 
Departed — never to return. 

That he was familiar with every step of the 
surrounding country, is shown in more than 
one poem. Tarn O'Shanter, for instance, 
dashed away 

"Well mounted on his grey mare, Mag, 
A better never lifted leg. 

By this time he was 'cross the foord, 
Whare in the snaw the chapman smoor'd; * 
And past the birks and meikle stane 
Whare drunken Charlie brak's neck -bane; 
And through the whins, and by the cairn 
Whare hunters fand the murder 'd bairn; 
And near the thorn, aboon the well, 
Whare Mungo's mither hang'd hersel. 
Before him Doon pours a' his floods; 
The doubling storm roars through the woods ; 
The lightnings flash frae pole to pole; 
Near and more near the thunders roll; 
When, glimmering through the groaning trees, 
Kirk-Alloway seem'd in a bleeze; 
Through lika bore 2 the beams were glancing, 
And loud resounded mirth and dancing. 



1 Got smothered. 2 Every hole in the wall. 

353 



CHOSEN DAYS IN SCOTLAND 

Tarn's career at every leap is pointed out to- 
day, and the worthy himself, with his crony, 
Souter Johnny, may be seen in effigy in a cave 
near the Burns monument. "Willie's Mill," 
near which the writer discussed with Death the 
activities of Dr. Hornbook, was not imaginary. 
Simpson's Tavern, the Wallace Tower, Allo- 
way Kirk, the Auld Brig of Ayr which vaunt- 
ed its sturdy strength against the modern 
weakness of the New Brig, the Brig o' Doon 
— arched like the back of an indignant cat — 
all these or the spots where once they stood 
may be found by inveterate identifiers. 

When Burns went afield, however, he showed 
himself sensitive to the beauties of which 
Nature is so prodigal to Scotland, and his 
verse is enriched by many descriptive lines. 
The Highlands inspired the well-known 
stanzas: 

"My heart's in the Highlands, my heart is not here; 
My heart's in the Highlands a-chasing the deer; 
Chasing the wild deer, and following the roe, 
My heart's in the Highlands wherever I go. 
Farewell to the Highlands, farewell to the North, 
The birthplace of valour, the country of worth; 
Wherever I wander, wherever I rove, 
The hills of the Highlands forever I love. 

354 




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"WE'LL A' BE PROUD O' ROBIN" 

"Farewell to the mountains high covered with snow; 
Farewell to the straths and green valleys below; 
Farewell to the forests and wild-hanging woods; 
Farewell to the torrents and loud-pouring floods. 
My heart's in the Highlands, my heart is not here, 
My heart's in the Highlands a-chasing the deer; 
Chasing the wild deer, and following the roe, 
My heart's in the Highlands wherever I go." 

The Nith aroused the poet to expression; so 
did Loch Turit; so did Aberfeldy: 

"Bonny lassie, will ye go, 
Will ye go, will ye go; 
Bonny lassie will ye go 

To the birks 1 of Aberfeldy? 

"Now simmer blinks on flowery braes, 
And o'er the crystal streamlet plays; 
Come, let us spend the lightsome days 
In the birks of Aberfeldy. 

"While o'er their heads the hazels hing, 
The little birdies blithely sing, 
Or lightly flit on wanton wing 
In the birks of Aberfeldy. 

"The braes ascend, like lofty wa's, 
The foaming stream deep-roaring fa's, 
O'erhung wi' fragrant spreading shaws 
The birks of Aberfeldy. 



1 Birches — Birch-wood. 2 Wooded dells. 

355 



CHOSEN DAYS IN SCOTLAND 

"The hoary cliffs are crown 'd wi' flowers, 
White o'er the linns the burnie pours, 
And rising,' weets wi' misty showers 
The birks of Aberfeldy. 

"Let Fortune's gifts at random flee, 
They ne'er shall draw a wish frae me, 
Supremely blest wi' love and thee, 
In the birks of Aberfeldy. ' ' 

But neither in quantity nor in quality is the 
verse noteworthy. Scenery in the large did 
not seem to provoke him to utterance as did 
the details of the homely life with which he 
was familiar. He was no impressionist nor 
could he manage a large canvas. Whittier 
says of him: 

' ' Not his the song whose thunderous chime 
Eternal echoes render; — 
The mournful Tuscan's haunted rhyme, 
And Milton's starry splendour." 

When Burns was seven years old, his father 
moved his family to Mount Oliphant, about 
two miles farther out from Ayr than Alloway. 
The buildings of the farm still are standing on 
an elevation that commands a prospect of the 
sea and of the Doon. Robert went to school, 
and he was not too far from Ayr to walk in 

356 



"WE'LL A' BE PROUD O' ROBIN" 

and join in its amusements. He made friends 
who lent him books, and he early grew to a 
strength that made him a competent helper to 
his father. To Mrs. Scott, a niece of Mrs. 
Cockburn, the author of "The Flowers of the 
Forest," Burns in later life addressed an epistle 
in which he described this period's duties and 
pleasures. 

"I mind it weel, in early date, 
When I was beardless, young, and blate, 

And first could thrash the barn, 
Or haud a yokin' at the pleugh; 
And though for fought en 2 sair eneugh, 

Yet unco proud to learn: 
When first amang the yellow corn 

A man I reckon 'd was, 
And wi' the lave 3 ilk merry morn 
• Could rank my rig and lass, 
Still shearing, and clearing, 

The tither stooked raw, 
Wi' claivers and haivers 
Wearing the day awa. 

It was here that the poet was first moved to 
write verse, inspired by the charms of Nellie 
Kilpatrick, a young girl who came to help in 
the harvesting. 



Bashful. 2 Fatigued. 3 Rest. 4 Gossip. 

357 



CHOSEN DAYS IN SCOTLAND 

"But still the elements o' sang, 
In formless jumble, right and wrang, 

Wild floated in my brain; 
Till on that hairst x I said before, 
My partner in the merry core, 

She roused the forming strain: 
I see her yet, the sonsie quean, 2 

That lighted up my jingle, 
Her witching smile, her pauky een, 
That gart my heart-strings tingle! 
I fired, inspired, 

At every kindling keek, 3 
But bashing, and dashing, 
I feared aye to speak. 

Here is the song in which he described "Hand- 
some Nell": 

' ' Oh, once I loved a bonny lass, 
Ay, and I love her still; 
And whilst that virtue warms my breast 
I'll love my handsome Nell. 

Fal, lal de ral, etc. 

"As bonny lasses I hae seen, 
And mony full as braw; 
But for a modest, gracefu' mien, 
The like I never saw. 

"But Nelly's looks are blithe and sweet; 
And, what is best of a' — 



1 Harvest. 2 Pretty girl. 3 Glance. 

358 



'WE'LL A' BE PROUD O' ROBIN" 

Her reputation is complete, 
And fair without a flaw. 

"She dresses aye sae clean and neat, 
Baith decent and genteel; 
And then there's something in her gait 
Gars ony dress look weel. 

"A gaudy dress and gentle air 
May slightly touch the heart; 
But it's innocence and modesty 
That polishes the dart. ' ' 

The enthusiasm with which Burns satirized 
the Kirk and the parsons of his day, undoubt- 
edly was stirred first when the lad sat under 
the long homilies of the local preachers. That 
they and their kind were made to sting for 
their hypocrisy, readers of "Holy Willie's 
Prayer" and the "Address to the Unco Guid" 
readily may understand: 

ADDRESS TO THE UNCO GUID, OR THE 
RIGIDLY RIGHTEOUS 

"O ye wha are sae guid yoursel, 
Sae pious and sae holy, 
Ye've nought to do but mark and tell 

Your neibour's fauts and folly! 
Whase life is like a weel-gaun mill, 
Supplied wi' store o' water, 
359 



CHOSEN DAYS IN SCOTLAND 

The heapet happer's ebbing still, 
And still the clap plays clatter. 

' ' Think, when your castigated pulse 

Gies now and then a wallop, 
What ragings must his veins convulse, 

That still eternal gallop : 
Wi' wind and tide fair i' your tail, 

Right on ye scud your sea-way; 
But in the teeth o' baith to sail, 

It makes an unco lee-way. 

"Then gently scan your brother man, 

Still gentler sister woman; 
Though they may gang a kennin' * wrang, 

To step aside is human: 
One point must still be greatly dark — 

The moving why they do it: 
And just as lamely can ye mark 

How far perhaps they rue it. 

"Who made the heart, 'tis He alone 

Decidedly can try us; 
He knows each chord — its various tone, 

Each spring — its various bias: 
Then at the balance let's be mute, 

We never can adjust it; 
What's done we partly may compute, 

But know not what's resisted. " 

After "Handsome Nell" Burns's muse was 



1 A little bit. 

360 



"WE'LL A' BE PROUD CT ROBIN" 

touched, like his heart, by Peggy Thomson, 
to whom he sang: 

"We'll gently walk and sweetly talk." 

Nell and Peggy were the forerunners of many 
lasses whose charms were celebrated in many 
lyrics that count among the best love-songs in 
literature. In the course of years there was 
"My Nannie, O!" 

Come weel, come woe, I care na by, 
I'll tak what Heaven will sen' me, 0» 

Nae ither care in life have I 

But live and love my Nannie, O!" 

There was Ellison Begbie: 

"On Cessnock banks there lives a lass, 
Could I describe her shape and mien, 
The graces of her weelfaurd l face, 

And the glancing of her sparkling een. ' ' 

There was a serving lass: 

"Were I a baron proud and high. 

And horse and servants waiting ready, 
Then a' 'twad gie o' joy to me, 

The sharin't wi' Montgomery's Peggy." 



Well-favored. 

361 



CHOSEN DAYS IN SCOTLAND 
There was " lovely Mary Morison": 

"O Mary, at thy window be, 
It is the wish'd, the trysted hour! 
Those smiles and glances let me see 
That make the miser's treasure poor: 
How blithely wad I bide the stoure, 
A weary slave frae sun to sun; 
Could I the rich reward secure, 
The lovely Mary Morison. ' ' 

There was Elizabeth Paton, his mother's 
servant, the heroine of "The Rantin' Dog the 
Daddie O't;" and Margaret Chalmers whose 
charms were extolled in 

"My Peggy's face, my Peggy's form, 
The frost of hermit age might warm; 
My Peggy's worth, my Peggy's mind, 
Might charm the first of humankind. 
I love my Peggy's angel air, 
Her face so truly, heavenly fair, 
Her native grace so void of art, 
But I adore my Peggy's heart. " 

There were many other lasses whom Burns 
thought he loved, and many more to whom 
verses were written in compliment, but of all 
the list of ardent songs none have touched to 
tenderness the world that loves a lover more 
than those addressed to Mary Campbell, the 

362 



"WE'LL A' BE PROUD O' ROBIN" 

"Highland Mary" who died, and those telling 
of his affection for Jean Armour, who married 
him. The parting between Burns and Mary- 
he tells in these lines: 

' ' Wi ' mony a vow and locked embrace 

Our parting was fu' tender; 
And, pledging oft to meet again, 

We tore oursel's asunder; 
But oh! fell Death's untimely frost 

That nipt my flower sae early ! 
Now green's the sod and cauld's the clay 

That wraps my Highland Mary!" 

The lines " To Mary in Heaven" are thought 
by many critics to be the best that Burns ever 
wrote: 

"Thou ling 'ring star, with less'ning ray, 

That lovest to greet the early morn, 
Again thou usher 'st in the day 

My Mary from my soul was torn. 
O Mary ! dear departed shade ! 

Where is thy place of blissful rest? 
See'st thou thy lover lowly laid? 

Hear'st thou the groans that rend his breast? 

"That sacred hour can I forget, 

Can I forget the hallow 'd grove, 
Where by the winding Ayr we met, 
To live one day of parting love ! 
363 



CHOSEN DAYS IN SCOTLAND 

Eternity will not efface 

Those records dear of transports past; 
Thy image at our last embrace; 

Ah! little thought we 'twas our last! 

"Ayr, gurgling, kiss'd his pebbled shore, 

O'erhung with wild woods, thick 'ning greeny 
The fragrant birch, and hawthorn hoar, 

Twined amorous round the raptured scene; 
The flowers sprang wanton to be prest, 

The birds sang love on every spray — 
Till too, too soon, the glowing west 

Proclaim 'd the speed of winged day. 

"Still o'er these scenes my memory wakes, 

And fondly broods with miser care ! 
Time but the impression stronger makes, 

As streams their channels deeper wear. 
My Mary ! dear departed shade ! 

Where is thy place of blissful rest? 
See'st thou thy lover lowly laid? 

Hear'st thou the groans that rend his breast?" 

Of the many songs to Jean this is one: 

"It is na, Jean, thy bonny face, 
Nor shape, that I admire, 
Although thy beauty and thy grace 

Might weel awake desire. 
Something, in ilka part o' thee, 

To praise, to love, I find; 
But, dear as is thy form to me, 
Still dearer is thy mind. 
364 



"WE'LL A 1 BE PROUD O' ROBIN" 

With the opinion of Dame Nature in 
"Green Grow the Rashes, O," Burns himself 
seems to have concurred: 

' ' Auld Nature swears the lovely dears 
Her noblest work she classes, O ; 
Her 'prentice hand she tried on man, 
And then she made the lasses, O. ' ' 

Whittier, the Quaker celibate, judges Burns 
acutely and generously: 

"But who his human heart has laid 
To Nature's bosom nearer? 
Who sweetened toil like him, or paid 
To love a tribute dearer?" 

When Robert was eighteen, his father moved 
once more, this time to Lochlea, a bleak spot 
near Tarbolton and Mauchline and nearer to 
Kilmarnock than to Ayr. Here Burns joined 
in all the diversions of the neighbourhood 
"Hallowe'en" frolics and the convivialities of 
the Tarbolton Masonic lodge which indirectly 
inspired "Death and Dr. Hornbook," whose 
scene is laid at the Mill of Tarbolton — "Willie's 
Mill." During the next few 3 7 ears he wrote 
much local verse, some of it more than indiffer- 
ent jingles, such as "The Tarbolton Lasses" 
and 

S65 



CHOSEN DAYS IN SCOTLAND 

' ' In Mauchline there dwells six proper young belles, 
The pride o' the place and its neighbourhood a' ; 
Their carriage and dress, a stranger would guess, 
In Lon'on or Paris they'd gotten it a'. 

"Miss Miller is fine, Miss Markland's divine, 

Miss Smith she has wit, and Miss Betty is braw; 
There's beauty and fortune to get wi' Miss Morton, 
But Armour's the jewel for me o' them a'. " 

After William Burns's death Robert moved 
the remaining family to Mossgiel, a farm on 
an eminence near Mauchline. Here it was 
that under conditions of hard toil and rude 
poverty Burns did his best poetical work. It 
counted epistles to sundry friends, "The Jolly 
Beggars," "Holy Willie's Prayer," and "The 
Holy Fair" — ambitious in length, rich in vari- 
ety, satirical or coarse or witty as his humour 
went. Like Kirkoswald, where Burns had 
studied surveying in the Mount Oliphant days, 
and like Tarbolton, Mauchline is a town of no 
distinction. Its people in the poet's day could 
lay no claim to attention from our day except 
through his lines, and its buildings may be de- 
scribed in the same way. There still stand the 
house where Burns lodged, that in which Mary 
Morison lived, and the dwelling of his friend, 
Gavin Hamilton, whose experience with the 

366 



"WE'LL A' BE PROUD O' ROBIN" 

elders after he had had one of his servants 
bring in some needed potatoes on Sunday, 
lashed Burns's indignation to express itself in 
"Holy Willie's Prayer": 

"Lord, mind Gawn Hamilton's deserts, 
He drinks, and swears, and plays at cartes, 
Yet has sae mony takin' arts, 

Wi' grit and sma', 
Frae God's ain priests the people's hearts 

He steals awa'. 

"And whan we chasten 'd him therefore, 
Thou kens how he bred sic a splore, 1 
As set the world in a roar 

O' laughin' at us; — 
Curse thou his basket and his store, 

Kail and potatoes. 

In the Hamilton house Burns wrote "The 
Calf," and in the same room he was married 
to Jean Armour. The monastic ruins are 
much the same that they were when he 
looked upon them, but taverns and shops and 
even the kirk in whose yard the "Holy Fair" 
was set, have given way to the march of im- 
provement and either have been torn down or 
have been put to other uses or have been re- 
placed by newer buildings. The braes and 

1 Disturbance. 

367 



CHOSEN DAYS IN SCOTLAND 

burns all round about the poet celebrated in 
song. 

In Kilmarnock, a town given over to the 
weaving industry, Burns acquired a reputation 
that won him suspicious rather than friendly 
glances by his cutting verses on local troubles 
in politics and the church. Like Mauchline, 
Kilmarnock has yielded to prosperity and prog- 
ress, but the building in which the first or 
"Kilmarnock" edition of poems was printed is 
still shown. It was the vogue of this edition 
that made Burns change the plans for going 
to Jamaica to which he had been driven by 
the inadequate result of his farming, and 
which had inspired many mournful lyrics, and 
sent him to Edinburgh instead. There his 
career was a social rather than a literary suc- 
cess, and when he returned to Mossgiel, and 
married Jean and undertook paternal cares, 
his muse languished indeed. 

From the drudgery of his unprofitable farm 
he was removed to drudgery of another sort — 
that of gauger or exciseman with an appoint- 
ment at Dumfries. His duties were not more 
exacting than when he followed the plough, 
but they offered temptations to which he was 
only too prone to yield, and excesses kill the 

368 



"WE'LL A' BE PROUD CT ROBIN" 

muse sooner or later. This period is marked by 
some few bits like "The Dumfries Volun- 
teers," "The Deil's Awa wi' the Exciseman" 
and "On Excisemen": 

"Ye men of wit and wealth, why all this sneering 
'Gainst poor excisemen? give the cause a hearing; 
What are your landlords' rent-rolls? taxing ledgers; 
What premiers — what even monarchs? mighty gaugers: 
Nay, what are priests, those seeming godly wise men? 
What are they, pray, but spiritual excisemen?" 

Of Burns's longer poems "Tarn O'Shanter" 
is perhaps second only to "The Cotter's Sat- 
urday Night" in popular liking — which speaks 
loudly for the catholicity of popular liking. 
"Tarn O'Shanter" belongs to this time, but it 
speaks no word of Dumfries and is full of mi- 
nutest mention of Ayrshire localities. Yet 
there were spots in this new country that in- 
terested Burns. Before the altar of the mon- 
astery of Greyfriars, on whose site stands 
Greyf riars Church, Bruce disposed of his rival, 
Red Comyn, by stabbing him to the heart. 
Amid the ruins of Lincluden Abbey "A 
Vision" took form: 

" As I stood by yon roofless tower, 

Where the wa' -flower scents the dewy air, 
369 



CHOSEN DAYS IN SCOTLAND 

Where the howlet mourns in her ivy bower, 
And tells the midnight moon her care. ' ' 

The story of Sweetheart Abbey, seven miles 
from town, was romantic enough to appeal to 
any poet and lover. Devorgilla built it as a 
mausoleum for the heart of her husband, John 
Baliol, and when she died herself the heart 
was buried with her. 

For three years Burns walked the streets of 
Dumfries, disgracing his genius daily, and 
snubbed for it by the "unco' guid." He had 
written of his wife: 

"She is a winsome wee thing, 
She is a handsome wee thing, 
She is a bonny wee thing, 

This sweet wee wife o' mine. 

"I never saw a fairer, 
I never lo'ed a dearer; 
And neist my heart I'll wear her, 
For fear my jewel tine. 1 

"She is a winsome wee thing, 
She is a handsome wee thing, 
She is a bonny wee thing, 

This sweet wee wife o' mine. 



1 Be lost. 



370 



"WE'LL A' BE PROUD O' ROBIN" 

"The warld's wrack we share o't, 
The warstle and the care o't; 
Wi' her I'll blithely bear it, 
And think my lot divine — " 

and Jean stood by him steadfastly through 
"the warstle and the care" of this period that 
was but one more of the burdens that Love 
laid upon her when she gave her heart to 
Robin. 

During the poet's days of failing strength, 
Jessie Lewars, the daughter of a brother ex~ 
ciseman, was kind to his weakness, and for her 
he wrote several lyrics, at least one of which 
has won a place among his best: 

"Oh, wert thou in the cauld blast 

On yonder lea, on yonder lea, 
My plaidie to the angry airt, 

I'd shelter thee, I'd shelter thee: 
Or did Misfortune's bitter storms 

Around thee blaw, around thee blaw, 
Thy bield * should be my bosom, 

To share it a', to share it a'. 

' ' Or were I in the wildest waste, 

Sae bleak and bare, sae bleak and bare, 
The desert were a paradise, 

If thou wert there, if thou wert there : 



1 Shelter. 



S71 



CHOSEN DAYS IN SCOTLAND 

Or were I monarch o' the globe, 

Wi' thee to reign, wi' thee to reign, 

The brightest jewel in my crown 

Wad be my queen, wad be my queen. ' ' 

In the graveyard of the church of St. 
Michael, Burns and his wife lie buried. Their 
granddaughter and great-granddaughter still 
live in the poet's house, which is preserved by 
the town as a museum. After Burns's death, 
Dumfries wakened to the fact that she had 
harboured a genius but coldly, and erected a 
statue to the memory of the author of the im- 
perishable song which has bound Scotsmen to 
each other the world around, and all other 
men to Scotsmen, for its appealing sake. 

' ' Should auld acquaintance be forgot, 
And never brought to min' ? 
Should auld acquaintance be forgot, 
And days o' lang syne? 

"For auld lang syne, my dear, 
For auld lang syne, 
We'll tak a cup o' kindness yet 
For auld lang syne ! 

"We twa hae run about the braes, 
And pu'd the go wans fine; 
But we've wander 'dmony a weary foot 
Sin' auld lang syne. 
372 



"WE'LL A' BE PROUD O' ROBIN 1 ' 

"We twa hae paidl't i' the burn, 
Frae morning sun till dine : 
But seas between us braid hae roar'd 
Sin' auld lang syne. 

"And here's a hand, my trusty fiere, 1 
And gies a hand o' thine; 
And we'll tak a right guid willie-waught 2 
For auld lang syne ! 

"And surely ye '11 be your pint-stoup, 
And surely I'll be mine; 
And we'll tak a cup o' kindness yet, 
For auld lang syne. ' ' 

Friend. 2 Draught. 



373 



INDEX 



Abbey Craig, 143. 
Abbotsford, 16, 23, 25, 108, 109, 

155. 
Aberbrothok, 178. 
Aberchalder, 230. 
Abercrombie, Patrick, 83. 
Aberdeen, 40, 75, 172, 177-190, 
209, 214. 

Balgownie, Brig o', 184. 

Blair's College, 188. 

Drum Castle, 189. 

Drum Forest, 189. 

Glamis, Castle, 177. 

Hunters' Hill, 177. 

King's College, 182, 184. 

Marischal College, 183. 

Norman Dikes, 188. 

University of, 76, 183, 184. 
Aberdour, 145. 
Aberfeldy, 355, 356. 
Aberfoyle, 336, 337. 
Abergeldie Castle, 195. 
Abernethy, 145, 171. 
Aboyne, 191, 202. 
Aboyne Castle, 191. 
Achnacarry, 233, 234. 
Achnasheen, 269. 
Achray, Passes of, 333. 
Adamnan, 74, 175. 
iEgeus, King, 274. 
Africa, 4. 
Agricola, 164. 
Alban, 2. 

Alban, Kings of, 216. 
Albany, Duke of, 156. 
Albert, Prince, 195. 
Alexander II, 43. 
Alexander III, 43, 44, 150. 
AUan, Mr., 26, 27. 
Alloway, 346, 350, 356. 



Alloway Kirk, 353, 354. 
Alne (River), 15. 
Ambrose's Tavern, 104. 
America, 348. 
Anne, Queen, 90. 
Anne of Britanny, 132. 
Anne of Denmark, 79, 129. 
Arbroath, 178. 
Arbroath, Lord, 154. 
Ardlui, 323. 
Ardnamurchan, 312. 
Ardtornish, Castle of, 311. 
Argyle or Argyll, 51, 53, 59, 

65, 137, 235, 302, 306, 311, 

318. 
Arisaig, 300. 
Arkaig, Glen, 234. 
Armadale, 279. 
Armour, Jean, 363, 364, 366, 

367, 368, 370, 371. 
Arnold, Bishop, 158. 
Aros Castle, 312. 
Arran, 312. 
Arthur, King, 25. 
Ashestiel, 29, 108. 
Aswan Dam, 126. 
Atlantic, 255, 256, 257, 261. 
Augustus, Fort, 228, 229, 230. 
Aviemore, 174, 200. 
Ayr, 350, 352, 356. 
Ayr, Auld Brig of, 354. 
Ayr, New Brig of, 354. 
Ayrshire, 31, 346, 347, 352, 369. 
Aytoun, 99, 105. 

Badenoch, Eabl of, 171. 
Badenoch, Wolf of, 212. 
Balfour, Sir Gilbert, 263. 
Baliol, 120, 370. 



375 



INDEX 



Ballachulish, 301, 304, 306. 
Ballangeich," "Gudeman of, 136. 
Ballantyne, 105, 106. 
Ballantyne, Robert Michael, 

108. 
Ballater, 192, 194, 195. 
Ballatrich, 194. 
Balloch Pier, 320. 
Balmaha, 322. 
Balmoral, 192, 195, 196. 
Bamborough, 15. 
Bannockburn, 134, 138-143, 149, 

220, 351. 
Banavie, 234. 
Banchory, 190, 191. 
Bane, Donald, 54. 
Banff, 211. 

Bannatyne, George, 76. 
Barbour, Archdeacon of Aber- 
deen, 74. 
Bar more-Wood, 12. 
Barrie, 112. 
Bassandyne, 75. 
Bass Rock, 118, 119. 
Beal-nam-bo, Pass of, 333. 
Beaton, Cardinal, 160, 178, 188. 
Beaton, John, 153, 154. 
Beatrice, Princess, 192. 
Beauchamp, Beatrice de, 35. 
Beaufort Castle, 268. 
Beaufort, Joan, 166. 
Beauty, 227, 268, 269. 
Becket, Thomas a, 35 178. 
Bede, 14. 

Begbie, Ellison, 361. 
Bemerside, Haigs of, 37. 
Ben A'an, 325. 

Cruachan, 307, 311. 

Ledi, 332, 333, 336. 

Lomond, 143, 271, 323. 

Muichdhui, 200. 

Nevis, 1, 200, 234-236, 299. 

Slioch, 271. 

Venue, 271, 325, 327, 332, 
335, 336. 

Wyvis, 269. 



Benares, 318. 

Benbecula, 279. 

Benger, Miss, 154. 

Berwick, 13, 14, 115. 

Berwick Castle, 207. 

Berwick, North, 116. 

Berwickshire, 202. 

Birnam HiU, 172. 

Birnam Wood, Great, 172. 

Blaaven, 297. 

Black, Adam, 107. 

"Black Agnes," 120. 

"Black Pat," 248. 

Black, William, 311. 

Blackford Hill, 73. 

Blackie, Professor, 174. 

Blair-Athole, 173. 

Blair, Robert, 84. 

Blair Castle, 172, 173. 

Blair, Hugh, 96. 

Blair, Lord, 98. 

Blairgowrie, 200. 

Blake, William, 84. 

Blythe, 15. 

Bohun, Sir Henry de, 140, 149. 

Bonar, 107. 

Border, 2, 8-15, 16, 43. 

Bothwell, 10, 11, 46, 47, 115, 120. 

Bothwick Castle, 120. 

Bostons, 21. 

Boswell, James, 94, 95, 282,293. 

Boswell, Sir Alexander, 95. 

Brae, Lyon, 301. 

Braemar, 198, 200. 

Braemar Castle, 198. 

Braemar Gathering, 192, 198. 

Braid Hills, 73, 113. 

Brander, Pass of, 310, 336. 

Branksome Tower, 11. 

Braxfleld, Lord, 98. 

Breadalbane, Earl of, 302. 

Brianchoil, 331. 

Bright, John, 225. 

Brougham, Lord, 10, 99-101. 

Brown, Dr. John, 108. 

Bruce, Edward, 139. 



376 



INDEX 



Bruce, Nigel, 207. 

Bruce, Robert, 11, 18, 21, 56, 74, 
126, 128, 138-140, 143, 148, 149, 
164, 189, 207, 225, 308-310, 323, 
369. 

Brude, King, 215. 

Brythons, 320. 

Buccleugh, Duke of, 12, 125. 

Buchan, Countess of, 207. 

Buchan, Earl of, 171. 

Buchan, Lord, 101. 

Buchanan, Geo., 77, 137. 

Burness, Wm, 350, 366. 

Burnet, Eliza, 91. 

Burns, Robert, 30, 47, 49, 52, 
63, 81, 86-93, 100, 106, 124, 
143, 154, 210, 211, 221, 226, 
346-373. 

Burton, 81. 

Byron, 101, 102, 184, 194, 196. 

Cairxgorm, 174, 200. 
Caithness, 242, 244, 257. 
Calderwood, David, 79. 
Caledonian Canal, 6, 223, et seq. 
Callander, 336. 
Camasunary, 284. 
Campbell, Captain, 302. 
Campbell, Mary, 362, 363. 
Campbell, Thomas, 97. 
Canning, 105. 
Cannobie Lea, 10. 
Carberry Hill, 115, 120, 151. 
Carlisle, 9. 
Carlops, 125. 

Carlyle, Jane Welsh, 116. 
Carlyle, Thomas, 10, 38, 108. 
Carnegie, Andrew, 150, 151, 

184, 269. 
Carterhaugh, 30, 31. 
Cawdor, Thane of, 218. 
Cessnock, 361. 
Chalmers, Margaret, 362. 
Chambers, 107. 
Chambers, Dr. Robert, 122. 
Chantrey, 28. 



Charpentier, Miss, 109. 
Charles Edward, Prince, 29, 48, 
60, 63, 68, 114, 134, 137, 154, 
167, 216-222, 225, 230, 231, 
233, 234, 239, 278, 280-283, 
286, 292, 296, 307. 
Charles I, 41, 63, 65, 114, 150. 
Charles II, 13, 63, 170. 
Chepman, 75. 
Cheviot Hills, 8, 9, 12. 
Cilles Christ Church, 227, 268. 
Cistercian Order, 17, 24. 
Clan, Alpine, 332. 

Cameron 186, 233. 

Campbell, 302. 

Chattan, 166, 167, 186. 

Clanranald, 300. 

Colquhoun, 320, 321. 

Farquharson, 193, 

Forbes, 207, 208. 

Fraser, 233, 268. 

Gordon, 191, 193, 195, 207- 
209. 

Grant, 225. 

Huntly, 209. 

Keith, 180, 190, 208. 

Lauder, 119. 

Macdonald, 186, 219, 228, 
233, 287, 291, 292, 301, 
303, 318. 

Macdonell, 227, 231. 

Macdougal, 308, 310. 

Macduff, 307. 

Macgregor, 320, 321, 322. 

Mackenzie, 227, 268. 

Maclean, 186, 318. 

Macleod, 186, 228, 287, 291, 
292, 318. 

Macpherson, 239. 

Quhele, 166, 167. 
Claverhouse, 29, 167, 173. 
Cluny Castle, 239. 
Cluny's Cave, 175. 
Clyde River, 310, 316, 320, 321, 
341, 342. 



377 



INDEX 



Cockburn, Alicia, 85. 
Cockburn, Lord, 98. 
Coe River, 304. 
Coilantogle Ford, 333, 335. 
Coldstream, 13. 
Coldstream Guards, 13. 
Colonsay, 313. 
Columbus, 162. 
Cope, General, 115. 
Compensation Pond, 126. 
Cona Water, 304. 
Congregation, Lords of the, 

65, 167. 
Connal, 312. 
Connaught, Duke & Duchess of 

192. 
Constable, 105, 106, 107. 
Coolins, 276, 281, 282, 283, 285, 

296, 297, 300, 313. 
Coquet-isle, 15. 
Coronation Chair, 169. 
Corrichie, Battle of, 209. 
Corichie, Howe of, 190. 
Covenant, 52, 63, 83. 
Covenanters, 41, 114, 119, 161, 

181, 184. 
Craig Hall, 208. 
Craigmillar Castle, 113. 
Craigdhu, 175, 239. 
Crawford, Robert, 85. 
Creech, 106. 
Crianlarich, 323. 
Crimean War, 229. 
Crinan Canal, 310. 
Crochallan Fencibles, 63, 91, 92. 
Crockett, S. R., 112. 
Cromlechs, 5. 
Crosbie, Andrew, 98. 
Cromwell, Oliver, 38, 63, 114, 

120, 156, 167, 180, 184, 217. 
Cruikshank Miss, 92. 
Cruikshank, William, 93. 
Cuchullin Mountains, 294. 
Culdees, 119, 151, 175, 317. 
CuUoden, 216, 218, 219, 220, 

221, 226, 231, 278. 



Cumberland, Duke of, 182, 213, 

219, 220, 221, 231, 234. 
Gumming, Miss Gordon, 314. 

Dalkeith House, 125. 
Dandie Dinmont, 10. 
Darnley, 47, 55, 69, 70, 77, 136, 

137, 339. 
Darwin, Charles, 108. 
David I., 17, 40, 42, 43, 45, 68, 

184, 338. 
Davidson, Sir Robert, 186. 
Dee (River), 185, 188, 195. 
Dee, Valley of the, 188-200. 
Deeside, 188, 202. 
Defoe, Daniel, 83. 
"Delta," 104. 
De Quincey, 105. 
Dernick, 17. 

Destiny, Stone of, 43, 169. 
Devorgilla, 370. 
Dickens, 111, 346. 
Dingwall, 269. 
Docherty, Glen, 270. 
Don (River), 184, 185. 
Donald, Lord of the Isles, 185, 

186. 
Doon, Brig o', 354. 
Doon (River), 352, 353, 356. 
Douglas, 57, 116-118, 152, 153. 
Douglas, Catherine, 165. 
Douglas, Sir James, 21. 
Doyle, Conan, 111. 
Dreux, Count of, 43. 
Drummond, 78, 124. 
Druminnor House, 207, 208. 
Drummossie Moor, 218, 221. 
Dryburgh, 19, 39. 
Dryburgh Abbey, 35-37. 
Dryden, 83. 
Dryhope, 33, 34. 
Duart Castle, 311. 
Duff House, 211. 
Dumbarton, 154, 320. 
Dumfries, 368, 369, 370, 372. 



378 



INDEX 



Dumfries Academy, 111, 
Dumfriesshire, 120. 
Dunbar, 63, 120, 180. 
Dunbar Castle, 119. 
Dunbar, William, 75. 
Duncan, King, 146, 215. 
Dundas, Robert, 98. 
Dundee, 170. 
Dunfermline, 5, 145-150. 

Abbey, 146-149. 

Palace, 150. 

Pittencrieff Glen, 147, 150. 

Pittencrieff Park, 150. 
Dunkeld, 170-173, 200, 214, 319. 
Dunkeld Cathedral, 171. 
Dunnet Head, 242, 243. 
Dunnollie, 311. 
Dunollie Castle, 308. 
Dunollie House, 308. 
Dunnottar Castle, 56, 180, 181, 

190. 
Dunnottar, Churchyard, 181. 
Dunrobin Castle, 242. 
Dunsinane Hill, 172. 
Dunstaffnage, 169, 311. 
Dunstaffnage Castle, 306, 312. 
Dunstanborough, 15. 
Duntulm Castle, 287. 
Dunvegan, 294, 295. 
Dunvegan Castle, 287, 290. 
Durham, 13. 

Earraid, Island of, 319. 
Ecclefechan, 10, 108. 
Edgar the Atheling, 147. 
Edinburgh, 49-112, 126, 127, 
134, 146, 166, 169, 279, 
336, 338, 339, 368. 
Advocates' Library, 83, 

96. 
Arthur's Seat, 68, 71, 73, 

110, 113. 
Banqueting Hall, 57. 
Burns Monument, 72. 
Calton Graveyard, 94. 
Calton Hill, 72. 



Edinburgh (cont'd) 

Canongate Churchyard, 89, 

97. 
Canongate Tolbooth, 67,68. 
Castle of Edinburgh, 52-57, 

71, 73, 78, 181, 317. 
Closes, 63. 
Cowgate, 52. 

Free Church College, 77. 
Grassmarket, 59, 80. 
Greyfriars Churchyard, 52, 

63, 77, 82, 83, 85, 98. 
High Street, 52, 58, 59, 63, 

65, 75. 
Holyrood, 52, 55, 58, 60, 

62, 66-70, 256, 279. 
Holyrood Abbey, 67-69, 

169, 178. 
Holyrood, Palace of, 129. 
King's Park, 68. 
Kirk-o'-Field, 70, 339. 
Lawnmarket, 58, 63. 
Lincoln Monument, 72. 
Parliament House, 64, 66, 

106, 110. 
Princes St. Gardens, 51, 

70, 85. 
Margaret's Chapel, 54. 
Mercat Croce, 66, 88, 110. 
Mons Meg, 54. 
Museum of Antiquities, 79. 
National Gallery, 71, 93. 
National Monument, 72. 
Nelson Monument, 72. 
Netherbow, 67. 
Nor' Loch, 51. 
Ramsay Lodge, 85. 
Royal Institution, 71. 
Sciennes Hill House, 91. 
Scott Monument, 71. 
St. Anthony's Chapel, 110. 
St. Giles Church, 62, 64, 

65, 75, 77, 79, 85. 
St. Marv in the Fields, 77. 
St. Paul's Chapel, 94. 
Tolbooth, 29, 64, 110. 



379 



INDEX 



Edinburgh (cont'd) 

University, 70, 76, 96, 111. 

West Churchyard, 105. 

West Port 79. 
Edward I, 138,' 169, 306, 308. 
Edward II, 18, 36, 139. 
Edward VII, 211. 
Edwin of Northumbria, 53. 
Eglinton, Susan, Countess of, 63. 
Eigg, Island of, 282, 300, 312. 
Eildon Hills, 16, 17, 24, 25. 
Elgin, 212, 213. 

Bishop's House, 213. 

Cathedral, 212. 

Monastery, 213. 
Eliot, John, of the Park, 46, 47. 
Elizabeth, Princess, 150. 
Elizabeth, Queen, 78, 90, 154, 

172, 263. 
Ellen's Isle, 325. 
Elliott, Jean, 12, 85. 
Erskine, John, 96. 
Erskine, Lord Henry, 10, 98. 
Escorial, Palace of the, 183. 
Esk (River), 10, 124. 
Esk, Valley of the, 120. 
Eskgrove, Lord, 98. 
Ettrick Forest, 31, 43. 
Ettrick Shepherd, 31, 104. 
Ettrick, Valley of the, 35. 
Ettrick Water, 30. 

Falkland, 128, 145, 151, 167. 
Falkland Castle or Palace, 136, 

155, 167. 
Ferguson, Adam, 91, 96. 
Fergusson, Robert, 87-89, 90. 
Fergusson (Architect), 45. 
Ferrier, Miss, 108. 
Fife, 145-162. 
Fife, Duke of, 211. 
"Fifteen," The, 137, 228. 
Findon, 187. 
Fingal's Cave, 314. 
Firth, Beauly, 268. 
Cromarty, 269. 



380 



Firth (cont'd) 

Dornoch, 269. 

of Forth, 73, 113, 120, 145. 

of Lome, 308, 311. 

Moray, 198, 202, 214, 224, 
268. 

Solway, 8, 10, 
Flamberg, Bishop, 13. 
Flaxman, 93. 
Fleurs Castle, 42. 
Flodden, 12, 13, 41, 135. 
Fochabers, 209. 
Forden, John of, 74. 
Forres, Palace of, 213. 
Forteviot, 306. 
Forth, Links of, 143. 
Forth Bridge, 146. 
Forth (River), 134, 337. 
Forth, Valley of the, 336. 
Fotheringay Castle, 28. 
"Forty-five," The, 134, 137, 175, 

234, 239, 278. 
Foyers, Falls of, 226. 
Franklin, Sir John, 255. 

Gaels, 5. 

Gairloch, 271, 274, 275, 297. 

Galloway, 54. 

Garry (River), 173. 

Gay, 87. 

Geddes, Jenny, 65, 79. 

Geikie, Sir Archibald, 300. 

George IV, 56. 

George V, 192, 193. 

George, Fort, 228. 

Giant's Causeway, 314. 

Gillespie, George, 82. 

Glasgow, 310, 320, 325, 338-345. 

Archbishop of, 79. 

Bridge, 342. 

Broomielaw, 342. 

Cathedral of, 339, 341. 

Corporation Art Galleries, 
342. 

Gilmore Hill, 342. 

Kelvingrove, 342. 

University of, 76, 342. 



INDEX 



Glen Nevis, 300. 
Glen Treig, 300. 
Glencoe, 299-306. 
Glencorse Burn, 126. 
Glenfruin, 320, 321, 322. 
Glengarry, 301. 
Glengyle, 325. 
Glenkindie, 202. 
Glenlyon, 303. 
Glenmoriston, 227. 
Goldsmith, Oliver, 87. 
Gometra, 314. 
Gordon, Adam, 202. 

Sir John, 190. 
Gordon Castle, 209. 
Gowrie, Carse of, 170. 
Gowrie, Earl of, 167, 168. 
Graham, Henry Grey, 343. 

Simion, 81. 

Sir Robert, 164, 165. 
Grampians, 174. 
Granger, Mrs., 181. 
Great Glen, 214, 223-239, 300. 
Gretna Green, 9. 
Greyfriars, 369. 

Haddington, 108, 115. 

Haigs, 37. 

Hakon, King, 241, 247, 278. 

Haliburtons, 36. 

Hamilton, Eliz., 96, 349. 

Hamilton, Gavin, 366, 367. 

Hamilton of Bothwellhaugh, 

129. 
Hamilton, Thomas, 104. 
Hanna, Dean, 65 f 79. 
Harlaw, 185, 186, 189. 
Harold the Fair-haired, 244, 

245. 
Harry," "Blind, 74. 
Hart, Andrew, 106. 
Hawley, 134. 

Hawthornden, 78, 120, 124, 125. 
Hebrides, 4, 94, 186, 278, 296, 

298. 
Henry II, 43. 



Henry VIII, 19, 59. 
Heriot, George, 111. 
Hermitage Castle, 10, 11, 47. 
Hertford, Earl of, 19, 36, 41, 

59, 114, 123, 156. 
Heywood, Thomas, 44. 
Highlands, 5, 188, 268, 278, 

301, 308, 354. 
Hogg, James, 31, 34, 104. 
Holy Island 14, 15. 
Home, John, 97. 
Honours of Scotland, 56, 66, 

180. 
Horner, Francis, 100. 
Hume, David, 94, 96. 
Huntly, 187, 190, 191, 193, 202, 

216. 
Huntly (town), 209. 

Iona, 306-319. 
Inchaffray, Abbot of, 142. 
Inchcailloch, 322. 
Inglis, John, 132. 
Inverary, 302. 
Invercoe House, 304. 
Inverfarigaig, Pass of, 225. 
Invergarry Castle, 231. 
Inverlochy Castle, 235. 
Invermoriston, 228. 
Inverness, 178, 186, 213-222, 223, 
227, 228, 241, 268. 

County Buildings, 217. 

Craig Phadric, 215. 

Macbeth's Castle, 215, 216. 

Ness (River), 214, 215. 

"Stone of the Tubs," 217. 

Tomnahurich, 223. 
Inversnaid, 323, 324. 
Inverugie, 207. 
Insh, 175. 

Iona, 74, 149, 171, 272, 306, 310, 
316-318. 

Cathedral of, 318. 
Irvines, 190. 
Irvine, William de, 189. 
Irving, Washington, 22. 



381 



INDEX 



James, Prince, 173. 
James I, 74, 75, 164, 165, 166, 
169, 216, 

II, 57, 135, 218. 

III, 40, 129, 135, 166, 244. 

IV, 12, 41, 57, 58, 68, 117, 
129-133, 135, 306. 

V, 10, 128, 129, 135, 145, 
155, 278. 

VI, 17, 55, 56 f 76, 79, 81, 
124, 129, 137, 167, 169, 
172, 202, 321. 

Jed Forest, 43. 
Jed Water, 42. 
Jedburgh, 42-48, 150. 

Abbey, 43, 45. 

Castle of, 43. 
Jeffrey, Francis, 98, 99, 100, 

103. 
John, King, 43. 
Jolande, 43. 

"Kailyard School," 96, 111, 

349. 
Keith, George, 183. 
Kelso Abbey, 39-41, 42. 
Keppoch, 231, 232. 
Ker, Captain, 202. 
Kerr, Robert, Sir, 41. 
Kerrera, 307. 
Kildrummie Castles, 206. 
Killiecrankie, 173, 301. 
Kilmaree, 284. 
Kilmarnock, 368. 
Kilmuir, 287. 
Kindrochit Castle, 198. 
Kineff, 181. 

Kingussie, 174, 235, 236. 
Kingsburgh, 282, 286. 
Kinlochewe, 270. 
Kinloch-lochy, 233. 
Kinross, 153. 
Kinross-shire, 151. 
Kinross, Vale of, 151. 
Kirkoswald, 366. 
Knox, John, 59, 64, 67, 75, 81, 

83, 116,137,156, 157, 161,351. 



Kyle Rhea, 297. 
Kyles of Bute, 310. 
Kyleakin, 278, 297. 

Laggan Bridge, 239. 
Laggan (River), 337. 
Lammermoor Hills, 116. 
Lang, Andrew, 111. 
Langside, 154, 263, 339. 
Lanrick Mead, 332. 
Largs, 241, 247, 278. 
Lasswade, 97, 120. 
Laud's Liturgy, 65, 79. 
Leith, 113, 114. 
Leny, Pass of, 336. 
Lewars, Jessie, 371. 
Lewis, "Monk," 97. 
Leyden, 25, 32, 42, 97. 
Liddel (River), 8. 
Liddesdale, 10. 
Lincluden Abbey, 369. 
Lindisfarne, 14. 
Linlithgow, 5, 127-134, 135. 
Lismore, 306. 
Little Minch, 279. 
Loch Achray, 334, 335, 336. 

Alline, 312. 

Alsh, 284. 

Ard, 337. 

Arklet, 323, 324. 

Awe, 310, 336. 

Coruisk, 282, 283, 284. 

Dunvegan, 290. 

Eil, 300. 

Etive, 306, 307, 310. 

Ewe, 270, 274. 

Hourn, 297. 

Katrine, 323, 324, 327, 328, 
332, 333. 

Leven, 151, 304, 307. 

Linnhe, 300, 301, 306. 

Lomond, 310, 320, 322, 325. 

Lowes, Of the, 34. 

Lubnaig, 336. 

Maree, 268-275. 

Monteith, 136. 



382 



INDEX 



Loch (cont'd) 

Nevis, 297. 

Scavaig, 281, 282, 283, 284. 

Slapin, 284. 

Sligachan, 281, 285. 

Snizort, 286. 

St. Mary's, 33, 34. 

Tay, 172. 

Tollie, 275. 

Turit, 355. 

Vennachar, 333, 335, 336. 
Loch Leven Castle, 29, 115, 137, 

152, 155, 263, 339. 
Lochaber, 299, 300. 
Lochiel, 233, 234. 
Lochlea, 365. 
Lochnagar, 196, 197, 198, 199, 

200. 
Lockhart, J. G., 9,% 26, 27, 28, 

30, 37, 39, 104. 
Lomond Hills, 151. 
Lora, Falls of, 307. 
Lome, Macdougall of, 309. 
Lothian, 113-126, 146. 
Lothian, East, 115. 
Lothian, Lamp of, 115. 
Lovat, Lord, 226, 228. 
Lumphanan, 191. 

M'Alpist, Kenneth, 163, 169, 

171, 306, 319. 
Macbeth, 146, 172, 191, 215. 
Macdonald, Sir Alexander, 280. 

Flora, 217, 279-282, 286, 
287, 307. 

Hugh, 279. 

Lady Margaret, 280, 281. 

of Kingsburgh, 280, 281. 
Macduff, 172. 
Macgregor, Helen, 324. 
Maclan, 301, 302, 303. 
Mackenzie, Henry, 97. 
Maclaren, Ian, 111. 
Maclean of Duart, 311. 
Macleod of Macleod, 290, 294. 



MacNeill, Hector, 86. 
Macpherson, Cluny, 176, 239. 
Macpherson, James, 211. 
MacRaonuill, 227. 
Magnus, Earl, 244. 
Magus Moor, 161. 
Malcolm II, 177. 

IV, 43. 
Malcolm Canmore, 146, 149, 

150, 172, 198, 216, 317. 
Mar, Earl of, 134, 137, 198. 
Margaret of Norway, 244. 
Margaret, Queen of James IV, 

57, 58, 129, 133 (Margaret 

Tudor). 
Margaret, Queen of James III, 

129, 135. 
Margaret, Queen of Malcolm 

Canmore, 17, 146, 147, 149, 

150. 
Mary of Gueldres, 129. 
Mary of Guise, 64, 114, 128, 155, 

167. 
Mary, Queen of George V, 192. 
Mary, Queen of Scots, 10, 28, 

46, 47, 55, 59, 64, 65, 68-70, 77, 

78, 82, 113-115, 120, 128, 129, 

136, 137, 151-155, 187, 188, 

190, 202, 209, 216, 248, 263, 

268, 301, 320, 339. 
Mauchline, 365, 366, 368. 
Mealfourvournie, 227. 
Melrose, 16, 17, 35, 37, 39. 
Melrose Abbey, 17-24, 72. 
Melville, Sir James, 78. 
Methven, 308. 
Mill, Willie's, 354, 365. 
Miller, Hugh, 108, 256, 257. 
Mingarry Castle, 312. 
Moil Castle, 284. 
Moir, David Macbeth, 104. 
Monadhliadh Range, 174. 
Moncrieff, A. R. Hope, 154. 
Monk, General, 13. 
Monkstat, 280. 
Montgomerie, 78. 



383 



INDEX 



Montgomery's Peggy, 361. 
Montrose, 29, 30, 59, 65, 80, 

167 235. 
Moray, 65* 120, 129, 152, 187, 
190, 339. 

House, 59. 

Marmaor of, 216. 
Moreville, Hugh de, 35. 
Morison, Mary, 362, 366. 
Morven, King of, 314. 
Morven, 194, 307, 311. 
Mossgell, 347, 366, 368. 
Mote-hill, 170. 
Motherwell, 108. 
Mowbray, Philip de, 139. 
Mt. Oliphant, 356, 366. 
Muir, Hill of, 137. 
Mull, 186, 282, 300, 307, 311- 
313, 319. 

Ross of, 319. 
Musselburgh, 114. 

Nairn, 213, 219. 

Lady, 93. 
Nasmyth, 93, 99. 
Netherby Hall, 10. 
Newark Tower, 32. 
Newcastle, 9. 
Nith (River), 355. 
Norham Castle, 13. 
North," "Christopher, 34, 104. 
North Sea, 185. 
Northumberland, 14. 

Earl of, 42. 

Oban, 307, 309, 310, 311, 319, 

336. 
Ochiltree, Edie, 41. 
Ogilby, John, 83. 
Orkneyinga, Saga, 244, 259, 260. 
Orkneys, 4, 240-267. 

Balfour Castle, 259. 

Bay of Firth, 249. 

Brogar, Bridge of, 251, 253. 

Brogar, Circle of, 252. 

Damnay Island, 249. 

Eday Island, 261. 



Orkneys (cont'd) 

Egilsay, Island of, 244, 261. 
Fair Isle, 249. 
Finstown, 249. 
Gairsay Island, 259. 
Graemsay Island, 255. 
Hoy, 242, 245, 254, 257, 259. 
Kirkwall, 242, 243, 246, 249, 
254. 

Bay, 259, 266. 
Bishop's Palace, 247. 
Earl's Palace, 248. 
Pier, 259. 

St. Magnus, Cathedral 

of, 244, 246, 247, 248. 

Sutherland Mountains, 

249. 
Wideford Hill, 249. 
Maeshowe, 249. 
Mainland, 242, 246, 254. 
Noltland Castle, 262. 
Pentland Firth, 241. 
Pierowall, 262. 
Pomona Island, 242. 
Red Head, 261. 
Rousay Island, 259, 265. 
Sanday, 246. 
Scapa Pier, 243. 
Shapinsay Island, 259. 
South Ronaldsay, 242, 246. 
St. Magnus, Church on 

Egilsay, 260, 265. 
St. Margaret's Hope, 243. 
Stenness, Church, 252. 

Standing Stones of, 251. 
Stroma Island, 241, 242. 
Stromness, 242, 246, 254, 

256. 
Swelkie, 241. 
Udal System, 245. 
Viera Island, 259. 
Westray Island, 261, 262. 
Ormaclode, 279. 
Orr (River), 195. 
Ossian, 175. 
Outer Isles, 222. 



384 



INDEX 



Park, Mttngo, 30. 
Paterson, 181. 
Paton, Elizabeth, 362. 
Pentland Hills, 73, 113, 120, 

125. 
Peterhead, 208. 
Perth, 75, 156, 163-171. 

Blackfriars Monastery, 164. 

Carthusian Monastery, 164. 

Gowrie House, 167, 168. 

Greyfriars Monastery, 164, 
165. 

Huntingtower, 168, 173. 

Kinnoul Hill, 168. 

North Inch, 167, 169. 

South Inch, 167. 

Ruthven, Castle of, 168. 
Philiphaugh, 30. 
Pinkie House, 114. 

Battle of, 189. 
Pitlochry, 173. 
Poolewe, 274. 

Portree, 278, 281, 284, 285, 297. 
Praemonstratensian Order, 36. 
Prestonpans, 114. 
Pretender, 41. 

Pretender, Young, 60, 68, 114. 
Prior, 87. 

QuEENSBERRY, DlJKE AND DuCH- 

ESS OF, 87. 

House, 87. 
Queensferry, 146. 

Raasat, 281, 284. 

Raeburn, 28, 292. 

Ramsay, Allan (artist), 292. 

Ramsay, Allan (poet), 34, 81, 

84, 85, 94, 126, 348. 
Red Castle, 178. 
Red Comyn, 369. 
Red Hills, 276, 281, 285, 297. 
Reformation 41, 247, 318, 341. 
Reformers, 19, 36, 83, 164, 169. 
Restoration, 56, 181, 217. 
Riccio, 69, 120. 



"Review," Blackwood's Edin- 
burgh, 99, 103, 105. 
"Review," Murray's Quarterly, 

100, 105. 
Richard II, 18, 36. 
Richmond and Gordon, Duke 

of, 209. 
Riding of Parliament, 66. 
Ringhorn, 150. 

Rob Roy, 29, 323, 325, 336, 341. 
Robert II, 117, 171, 212. 

Ill, 156, 166. 
Robertson, Alexander, 85. 
Robertson, William, 96. 
Rognvald, Earls, 244, 247. 
Rollock, Robert, 77. 
Rory Mor, 292. 
Rosebery, Lord, 110. 
Roslin, 120. 

Prentice's Pillar, 122. 
Ross, 186, 269, 289, 297, 312. 
Rosslyn Castle, 123. 

Chapel, 120, 123, 213. 

Earl of, 120. 
Rothesay, Duke of, 156, 166. 
Rough Bounds, The, 186. 
Roxburgh Castle, 42. 

Duke of, 41. 
Roy Bridge, 236. 
Ruddiman, Thomas, 83. 
Rum, 300, 312. 
Ruthven, Alexander, 167. 

Saint — 

Andrew, 159. 

Baldred, 119. 

Bride of Rothwell, 118. 

Christopher, 350. 

Columba, 17, 74, 171, 184, 

215, 317-319. 
Cuthbert, 14, 17. 
Fillan, 142. 
Katharine, 126. 
Kentigern, 316, 338, 341. 
Machar, 184. 



385 



INDEX 



Saint (cont'd) 

Maelrubba, 272. 

Maree, 272. 

Margaret, 317. 

Mary of Melrose, 17. 

Michael, 127. 

Mungo, 316, 338, 341. 

Ninian, 338. 
St. Andrews, 116, 145, 156, 171, 
178. 

Archbishop of, 12, 79, 154. 

Augustinian Priory, 158. 

Blackfriars Monastery, 157. 

Castle, 160. 

Cathedral, 157. 

Greyfriars Monastery, 157. 

Links, 162. 

St. Regulus, Tower of, 159. 

University of, 76, 161. 

Town Church of, 157. 

William, 126. 
St. Clair, William, 126. 
St. Clairs, 124. 
St. Gaudens, 65. 
St. Johnstoun, 164, 173. 
St. Michael, Church of, 129, 372. 
St. Oran's Chapel, 317. 
Salamanca, 20. 
Salisbury Crags, 73, 110, 113. 
Sandyknowe, 37. 
Sark River, 8. 
Sauchieburn, 41, 135. 
Scone, 43, 138, 207, 306. 

Abbey of, 109, 170, 171. 

Palace, 169, 170. 
Scot, Michael, 20, 24, 42, 74. 
Scotia, 2. 

Scotland, 1, 2, 3, 6. 
Scots, 2, 3, 4. 

Scott, Sir Walter, 9, 13, 16-49, 
53, 56, 62, 65, 69, 72, 73, 
77, 82, 83, 90, 91, 96-100, 
104-106, 108-111, 120, 122, 
125, 130, 140, 148, 155, 
163, 177, 178, 235, 241, 



Scott (cont'd) 

248, 253, 255, 257, 293, 

308, 311, 312, 324, 326, 
330, 334, 336, 340, 349. 

Scott, works of — 

Abbott," "The, 152, 153. 
Antiquary," "The, 41, 178. 
"Chronicles of the Conon- 

gate," 69. 
Diary, 108. 

Eve of St. John," "The, 38. 
"Fair Maid of Perth,' 1 56 

166. 
"Guy Mannering," 62, 96, 

98, 110. 
Heart of Midlothian," "The, 

64, 80, 110. 
"Lady of the Lake," 29, 

320-337. 
"Lay of the Last Minstrel," 

11, 20, 21, 29, 32, 42, 122. 
Legend of Montrose," "The 

235. 
Lochinvar, 10, 120. 
"Lord of the Isles," 97, 140, 

309, 311. 
"Marmion," 13, 14, 29, 33 

38, 73, 75, 116, 127, 132. 

Minstrelsy," "Scottish, 
104. 

Monastery," "The, 24. 

"My Aunt Margaret's Mir- 
ror," 110. 

"Old Mortality," 181. 

Pirate," "The, 241, 248, 253, 
255, 257. 

"Provincial Antiquities," 56. 

"Redgauntlet," 10. 

"Rob Roy," 336, 341. 

"St. Ronan's Well," 97. 

"Tales of My Landlord," 
108. 

Waverleys, 27, 29, 62, 83, 
94, 106. 
Scrabster, 242. 
Seafield, Earl of, 225. 



386 



INDEX 



Seaton, Lord, 115, 153. 
Selkirk, 17, 30, 40. 
Sempill, Francis, 81. 

Robert, 76. 
Shakespeare, 172, 216. 
Sharp, Archbishop, 161. 
Sheridan, 94. 

Sheriffmuir, Battle of, 138. 
Shetland, 244, 266. 
Shiels, Tibbie, 34. 
Shottery, 346. 
Sigurd, 244. 
Simpson's Tavern, 354. 
Skibo Castle, 269. 
Skye, 186, 228, 234, 275-298, 313. 
Sligachan, 285. 
Smailholme Tower, 38, 39. 
Smellie, William, 91, 92. 
Smiles, Samuel, 107, 108, 116. 
Smith, Adam, 96, 97. 

Sydney, 99. 
Smollett, 86, 220. 
Solway Moss, 10, 128, 155. 
Somerville, Mary, 46. 
Soulis, William de, 11. 
Sound of Sleat, 284, 297. 
Southey, 178. 
Spean, 300. 

Bridge, 236. 

Glen, 238. 
Spey (River), 175. 
Spittal of Glenshee, 200. 
Spottiswoode, 79. 
Staffa, 310, 314. 
Stair, Master of, 302, 304. 
Stalker Castle, 306. 
Stanley, Dean, 158. 
Steel, 103. 
Stevenson, Robert Louis, 65, 

80, 112, 119, 319. 
Stewart of Appin, 306. 
Stewart, Dugald, 97. 
Stirling, 134-144, 163, 321, 336. 

Argyll's Lodging, 135. 

Bore Stone, 143. 

Bridge, Battle of, 138. 



Stirling (cont'd) 

Cambuskenneth Abbey, 134, 
143. 

Castle, 52, 56, 139. 

King's Knot, 143. 

King's Park, 139, 143. 

Mar's Work, 134. 

Wallace Monument, 143. 
Stonehaven, 180. 
Stonehenge, 254. 
Storr Rock, 289, 296. 
Strathclyde, 320. 
Strathcona and Mt. Royal, 

Lord, 304. 
Strathmore, Earl of, 178. 
Strath-Ire, 332. 
Stronachlachar, 324, 325, 334. 
Stuart, Robert, 248, 256. 
Surrey, 117. 

Sutherland, Duke of, 242. 
Sweetheart Abbey, 370. 
Sweyn Asleifson, 2, 44, 259. 

Tacitus, 243. 

Tantallon Castle, 84, 116, 117, 

119. 
Tarbolton, 365, 366. 
Tay (River), 163,168,170,198. 
Taylor, Mr., of Kinross, 155. 
Teith (River), 336. 
Tempe, Vale of, 39. 
Teviot (River), 11, 39, 42. 
Thomas of Ercildoune, 37. 
Thomas the Rhymer, 25-29, 74, 

208, 209, 223. 
Thomson, James, 46, 86. 
Thomson, Peggy, 361. 
Thurso, 249. 
Tiber (River), 163. 
TiU (River), 12. 
Tollie, 274. 
Towie Castle, 202. 
Traquair, 17, 34. 
Trossachs, 320, 323, 325. 
Pier, 334. 



387 



INDEX 

Trotternish, 285, 296. Wallace, William, 74, 138, 180, 

Tulloch, 235, 236. 320. 

Turk, Brig o', 335. Wansbeck (River), 15. 

Tweed (River), 8, 13, 14, 16, 17, Watt, Francis, 142. 
24, 25 28, 29, 35, 38, 39, 42. Weir, Major, 80. 

"Well of the Heads," 231, 232. 

Welsh, Jane, 108. 

Whitby, 14. 

W T hittier, 272, 356, 365. 

Widderington, 15. 

Wilson, Annie, 122. 

Wilson, 34, 103. 

William, Fort, 228, 235, 299, 302, 

303. 
WiUiam, King, 173, 225, 301, 

304. 
William the Lion, 43, 178, 185, 

189. 
Wishart, George, 160, 178. 
Wordsworth, Dorothy, 121. 
Wordsworth, 26, 32, 35, 47, 100, 
288, 323, 349. 



Valley of the, 188. 
Twisel Bridge, 12. 
Tynemouth, 15. 
Tyronensian Order, 40. 

Uig, 287. 

Ulva, Isle of, 313. 
Umfraville, Ingelram de, 143. 
Union of Scotland and Eng- 
land, 3, 56 y 66, 181. 
Urquhart, Castle, 224. 
Glen, 224, 225. 

Vane, Sir Henry, 63. 
Vaternish, 279. 

Victoria, Queen, 174, 192, 195, 
196, 271. 

Waldegrave, 78. 
Wallace Tower, 354. 



Yarrow River, 30, 32, 34. 

Vale of, 16, 31, 33, 34, 188. 

Zair, House of, 22. 



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